tihvavy  of  ^e  tUoh^ml  ^tmimry 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Mr.  J*M.  Nelson 
BV  3797  .S5  1905 
Smith,  Gipsy,  1860-1947 
As  Jesus  passed  by 


^T^e.,^     /^/2^1<^i^^ 


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As  Jesus  Passed  By 


And  Other  Addresses 


By 
GIPSY  SMITH 


UlUALOC 


^\^ 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1905,  by 
FLEMING  H.  PEVELL  COMPANY 


Eighth  Edition 


Kew  York:  158  Fifth  Avfenue 
Chicago:  80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto:  27  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      100    Princes    Street 


3  "IT PI 


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AS   JESUS  PASS-^D   BY 


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Copyright,  1905,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


Preface 

After  much  pressure  I  have  consented  to 
the  publication  of  these  Addresses.  They  were 
delivered  to  crowded  audiences  with  a  burning 
desire  to  bring  those  who  heard  them  to  an  im- 
mediate decision  for  Christ.  Here  they  are, 
practically  as  they  were  spoken,  and  if  I  am  so 
led,  they  will  be  preached  again,  for  God  has 
been  pleased  to  bless  them  to  thousands. 
Whether  heard  or  read,  my  one  desire  is  the 
extension  of  Christ's  kingdom  all  over  the  world. 

Gipsy  Smith. 


Contents 


I. 

As  Jesus  Passed  by  ;  or.  Follow  Me 

7 

II. 

Repent  Ye  !          .... 

23 

III. 

Born  Again 

•       43 

IV. 

The  Saviour  of  All     . 

.       61 

V. 

The  Master's  Touch   . 

•      79 

VI. 

Slay  Utterly 

97 

VII. 

He  Went  Away  Sorrowful 

117 

VIII. 

The  Final  Choice 

135 

IX. 

Saved  and  Unsaved 

151 

X. 

Gleaning  for  God 

165 

XI. 

Hid  With  Christ 

191 

XII. 

The  New  Life     •         •        , 

•     213 

AS  JESUS  PASSED  BY;  OR, 
FOLLOW  ME 


«  And  as  Jesus  passed  by,  He  saw  a  man  called  Matthew, 
sitting  at  the  place  of  toll.  And  He  saith  unto  him,  Follow 
Me.     And  he  arose  and  followed  Him." — Matt,  g  :  g. 


AS  JESUS  PASSED  BY;  OR,  FOLLOW  ME 

This  is  Matthew's  modest  way  of  telling  all 
generations  how  he  was  converted.  Matthew 
could  have  made  a  great  deal  more  of  that 
epoch-making  moment  in  his  life.  Sometimes  I 
think  when  he  wrote  just  as  much  as  my  text  he 
would  not  write  any  more  that  day.  Can  you 
not  see  between  the  lines  what  a  story  is  there 
untold?  He  does  not  even  tell  you  that  he  lived 
in  a  big  house.  He  does  not  tell  you  that  he 
made  a  big  feast.  He  does  not  tell  you  that  he 
invited  all  his  old  friends  to  come  and  meet  with 
Jesus  at  the  feast.  He  leaves  others  to  tell  you 
that  little  bit  of  the  story.  He  simply  says  there 
was  a  feast.  Very  modest  is  Matthew.  He  says 
Jesus  saw  a  man,  and  said  to  that  man,  "  Follow 
Me,"  and  the  man  followed ;  that  is  all.  Some 
of  us  at  certain  moments  of  our  lives  cannot  trust 
ourselves  to  tell  all  the  story.  We  keep  some- 
thing back ;  we  cannot  trust  ourselves  to  put  the 
story  into  words.  There  are  pages  in  every  life 
that  will  never  be  written.  There  are  stories 
9 


10  As  Jesus  Passed  By;  or,  Follow  Me 

untold  to  mortal  ear  over  which  the  angels  re- 
joice. There  are  moments  when  only  the  sky 
and  the  sun,  the  moon  and  the  stars,  the  birds 
and  the  flowers,  and  the  heaven  eternal  can  hear 
all  we  have  to  say  of  His  wonderful  grace  and 
mercy.  We  can  only  tell  a  bit  of  it,  just  a  little 
bit  of  it.  I  want  you  to  think  of  this  wonderful 
moment — and  it  was  a  wonderful  moment,  a 
moment  when  gospels  were  born,  a  moment  in 
which  history  began  to  breathe,  a  moment  when 
in  his  soul  there  was  placed  the  germ-joy  that 
will  make  heaven  pulsate  with  hallelujahs.  It 
was  a  wonderful  moment  in  his  life  when  he  saw 
Jesus  standing  there  calling  him  by  name,  speak- 
ing to  him  as  a  man  would  to  his  friend,  appeal- 
ing to  him. 

Why  should  Jesus  go  to  this  man  ?  Because 
this  man  needed  Jesus.  I  beheve  deep  down  in 
this  man's  heart  he  was  longing  for  Christ.  I 
am  not  so  sure  that  he  had  not  heard  John  the 
Baptist  preach.  I  am  not  so  sure  that  he  was 
not  already  a  convicted  sinner.  I  am  not  so 
sure  that  he  had  not  heard  John  say,  "  Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God ! "  There  were  moments  in 
his  life  when  he  longed  to  get  a  look  at  that 
dear  face,  to  hear  the  music  of  that  voice,  and 


As  Jesus  Passed  By :  or,  Follow  Me    1 1 

catch  some  inspiration  from  His  life-giving  mes- 
sage, and  to  feel  the  touch  that  healed.  And  I 
can  imagine  that  even  that  day  he  could  not  see 
his  books  for  his  tears.  He  was  at  his  business, 
you  remember ;  he  sat  at  the  place  of  toll,  every- 
thing in  front  of  him,  and  while  he  was  thinking 
of  the  inward  longings,  while  the  soul-hunger 
was  gnawing,  while  the  man  within  the  man  was 
talking  to  him  and  setting  in  motion  thoughts 
and  feehngs  that  were  eternal,  I  can  imagine  him 
saying,  "  Oh,  shall  I  ever  see  Him  ? "  And 
maybe  he  laid  his  head  on  his  hands  in  his 
grief,  and  at  that  moment  Jesus  said,  **  Matthew, 
Matthew,  follow  Me."  You  know  Matthew  was 
ready  to  do  it.  He  did  it  instantly,  without 
asking  a  question,  without  any  hesitation.  He 
acted  as  though  he  had  -made  his  plans  as  to 
what  he  would  do  if  he  had  the  chance.  He  left 
all.  He  does  not  tell  you  that,  he  leaves  the 
others  to  add  that  bit  to  the  story ;  and  his  all 
was  the  possibility  of  becoming  very  rich.  He 
left  it  all :  he  left  his  books,  he  left  his  business, 
he  left  his  office,  he  left  his  position,  he  left  his 
friends,  he  left  all  to  follow  Jesus.  Matthew 
had  counted  the  cost,  and  knew  what  he  would 
do  if  the  chance  came.     Jesus  knew  it  too.     He 


12  As  Jesus  Passed  By;  or,  Follow  Me 

knew  where  Matthew  sat,  just  as  He  knew  where 
Nathanael  prayed  under  the  fig-tree.  He  knows 
where  you  are,  Matthew  at  the  place  of  toll  or 
Nathanael  under  the  fig-tree,  or  Zacchaeus  in  the 
tree.  He  knows.  He  sees.  There  is  no  look 
heavenward,  there  is  no  desire  heavenward,  there 
is  no  aspiration  after  goodness,  there  is  not  an 
honest  struggle  for  a  nobler  hfe  in  your  heart,  in 
your  home,  anywhere,  everywhere,  but  what  God 
sees  and  God  knows.  And,  Hsten  to  me,  there 
never  is  a  good  desire,  there  never  is  a  noble 
thought,  there  never  will  be  an  aspiration  for  a 
holier  hfe,  but  what  is  God-given  and  God-in- 
spired. He  knows.  And  He  knows  where  you 
sit,  my  brother.  Here  is  a  man  handicapped,  a 
jewel  in  an  unlikely  place,  here  is  a  man  that 
nobody  wanted,  ostracized  by  his  very  profession, 
separated  from  decent  folk  by  his  calling,  unpop- 
ular and  hated.  There  he  was;  he  never  had 
had  a  chance.  The  Church  did  not  want  him, 
and  when  Jesus  Christ  took  the  trouble  to  save 
him.  The  Church  of  his  day  did  not  want  him, 
and  I  am  afraid  there  are  some  Churches  in  Eng- 
land who  would  net  thank  you  to  fill  them  with 
the  harlots,  the  publicans,  the  gamblers,  the 
drunkards,  and  the  sinners.     And  yet  they  are 


As  Jesus  Passed  By;  or.  Follow  Me    13 

the  sort  that  heaven  opens  its  doors  to.  Don't 
forget  that.  They  are  the  people  for  whom 
Christ  died — not  the  righteous,  but  sinners. 
And  there  are  people  who  would  sit  in  commit- 
tee and  dictate  to  the  Son  of  God  as  to  who 
He  is  to  Sfave.  They  did  it  in  Matthew's  day. 
There  are  people  who  would  sit  in  judgment  on 
the  Christ  of  God.  They  would  question  the 
authority  of  Omnipotence  to  save  the  sinner, 
"  This  Man  eateth  with  sinners."  It  shows  how 
much  they  knew  of  this  Man  and  His  mission  to 
the  world.  What  does  this  story  mean?  It 
means  this :  that  for  every  man  there  is  a  chance. 
The  Christ  I  have  to  preach  gives  a  chance  to 
the  worst,  to  the  most  unlikely,  to  the  most  de- 
graded, to  the  most  hated,  to  the  most  sinful,  to 
the  most  despised,  to  the  people  who  were  born 
into  the  world  with  the  devil  in  their  blood,  the 
blood  of  the  gambler  in  their  veins,  the  blood  of 
the  harlot  in  their  veins.  And  when  I  think  of 
it  all  and  look  at  some  people,  the  wonder  to  me 
is  that  they  are  not  worse  than  they  are.  God 
have  pity  on  the  little  boys  and  girls  in  the  world 
who  are  made  drunk  before  they  are  a  year  old  ! 
God  have  pity  on  the  child-life  of  to-day !  For 
such  Jesus  came. 


14   As  Jesus  Passed  By;  or,  Follow  Me 

And  He  chooses  to  find  out  about  these  peo- 
ple, the  people  that  nobody  wants,  and  He  says, 
"  I  want  you  ;  I  am  after  you."  It  is  a  new  way 
of  treating  sinners.  Did  you  ever  think  of  it? 
A  new  way  of  treating  sinners,  wrong-doers. 
Prison  for  wrong-doers,  the  law  courts  for 
wrong-goers ;  the  whole  fabric  of  society  is  built 
up  to  keep  off  wrong-doers,  to  keep  away  wrong- 
doers, to  keep  out  wrong-doers,  to  shut  up  and 
shut  off  wrong-doers,  and  Jesus  Christ  comes 
and  opens  His  arms  to  them,  and  says,  "  Come 
to  Me ;  I  will  receive  you."  That  is  the  Christ 
for  me !  To  set  the  prisoner  free,  to  break  the 
chains  of  them  that  are  bound,  to  open  the 
prison  doors  and  say,  "  March  out ;  I  will  make 
you  free  by  My  mighty  power."  It  means  a 
\  chance  for  every  man.  And  Jesus  sees  far  more 
in  these  people  that  are  far  from  Him  than  we 
have  seen  yet.  If  you  and  I  had  the  eyes  of 
Christ  we  should  see  in  the  filthiest  wretch  that 
walks  the  street  something  worth  saving.  If  you 
and  I  only  had  the  vision  of  Calvary  we  should 
never  weary,  we  should  never  tire,  we  should 
never  lose  heart,  and  we  should  never  lose  hope. 
We  should  believe  that  for  the  worst  there  is  a 


As  Jesus  Passed  By;  or.  Follow  Me    15 

throne,  a  song,  an  anthem.  May  God  help  us  to 
believe  our  gospel ! 

Why  did  Jesus  go  to  Matthew?  Because 
Jesus  knew  that  Matthew  needed  Him.  No- 
body could  do  for  Matthew  what  Jesus  could. 
Don't  forget  that.  Matthew  had  never  had  a 
chance.  Nobody  but  Jesus  could  give  him  one. 
He  was  in  a  bad  setting ;  his  whole  life  was  a 
tangle,  his  whole  life  was  knots.  Nobody  wanted 
him.  And  you  know  people  like  that.  There 
are  some  connected  with  you  that  you  would 
rather  not  see.  You  tremble  when  you  see 
them,  and  when  their  name  is  mentioned.  There 
are  some  names  you  do  not  talk  about  to  others ; 
you  try  to  forget;  you  won't  talk  about  them. 
There  is  a  skeleton  in  every  cupboard.  The 
most  of  us  here  have  somebody  connected  with 
us  that  we  do  not  like  to  mention  ;  we  try  to 
forget ;  and  yet,  God  knows,  the  agony  of  it  eats 
the  life  out  of  us.  They  are  the  people  who 
need  Him. 

It  is  no  good  to  say  to  some  people,  "  Believe, 
believe."  They  need  somebody's  fingers  to  un- 
ravel the  knots,  to  untie  and  straighten  things 
out ;  and  who  is  to  do  it  ?  Those  whose  whole 
life  has  been  cursed  from  their  very  birth,  they 


i6  As  Jesus  Passed  By;  or,  Follow  Me 

are  handicapped  in  their  very  blood,  and  who  is 
to  deliver  them  ?  Can  anybody  do  it  ?  Is  there 
no  God  who  can  do  it  ?  Listen — the  fingers 
that  weaved  the  rainbow  into  a  scarf  and  wrapped 
it  around  the  shoulders  of  the  dying  storm,  the 
fingers  that  painted  the  Hly-bell  and  threw  out 
the  planets,  the  fingers  that  were  dipped  in  the 
mighty  sea  of  eternity  and  shook  out  on  this  old 
planet,  making  the  ocean  to  drop  and  the  rivers 
to  stream — the  same  fingers  can  take  hold  on 
these  tangled  lives  and  can  make  them  whole 
again,  for  He  came  to  make  the  crooked  straight, 
and  the  rough  places  plain.  Blessed  be  God, 
Jesus  can  do  for  Matthew  what  nobody  else  can, 
and  He  can  do  for  you,  my  brother,  what  your 
friends  cannot  do.  He  can  take  the  desire  for 
drink  out  of  you ;  He  can  cure  the  love  of 
gambling  that  is  eating  the  soul  out  of  you ;  He 
can  put  out  the  fires  of  lust  that  are  burning  in 
your  being  and  consuming  you  by  inches ;  He 
can  take  the  devil  of  lying  out  of  you,  the  devil 
of  cheating  out  of  you,  of  fraud  out  of  you,  of 
hypocrisy  out  of  you.  Jesus  can  do  what  no- 
body else  can ;  the  preacher  cannot,  the  Church 
cannot ;  but  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  loves  you,  is 
mighty  to  save. 


As  Jesus  Passed  By;  or,  Follow  Me   17 

Let  me  go  another  step.  There  was  some- 
thing that  Matthew  could  do  for  Jesus  that 
nobody  else  could — and  I  say  that  reverently. 
Jesus  needed  Matthew.  Ay,  and  He  needs  you. 
They  looked  at  Him  and  said,  "  He  is  a  sinner." 
"  Yes,"  said  Jesus,  "  and  he  will  write  My  first 
Gospel."  Only  give  him  a  chance;  you  do  not 
know  what  there  is  hidden  in  the  drunkard. 
There  may  be  a  preacher,  there  may  be  an 
evangelist,  there  may  be  a  gospel.  You  do  not 
know.  Give  them  a  chance;  give  them  all  a 
chance.  "  A  sinner."  They  were  fond  of  using 
these  words.  "  He  is  a  sinner."  They  used 
them  about  the  man  in  the  tree.  "  Yes,"  said 
Jesus,  "  he  is  a  sinner,  and  he  is  a  son  of  Abra- 
ham." And  it  was  Jesus  who  spoke  on  both 
occasions.  You  would  not  have  gone  for  a 
scribe  for  the  Son  of  God  to  a  pubHcan.  No ! 
But  Jesus  has  a  wonderful  way  of  showing  what 
He  can  do  withunhkel^  material.  A  little  child 
cried  just  now.  Its  little  voice  in  coming  days 
may  startle  the  nation.  The  waving  of  its  little 
hand  may  marshal  the  hosts  of  God.  Who  can 
tell  ?  That  little  boy  at  your  side  may  become  a 
Spurg^on,  a  McLaren,  a  Whitefield,  a  Wesley. 
Who  can  tell  the  possibilities  of  a  child  ?     That 


1 8  As  Jesus  Passed  By ;  or,  Follow  Me 

little  girl  may  be  a  Mrs.  Fletcher,  a  Florence 
Nightingale,  a  Catherine  Booth.  Who  can  tell  ? 
And  God  wants  them  all.  There  are  gospels 
hidden  away,  untold  yet,  but  they  will  shine  out 
and  flash  in  letters,  golden  capitals,  and  make 
the  world  glad  with  a  great  gladness. 

You  saw  the  sinner,  Jesus  saw  the  man.  He 
saw  the  sinner  too,  and  He  knew  what  the  sinner 
would  be  when  grace  had  had  a  chance.  The 
world  sees  the  face  and  the  clothes  and  the 
house,  the  street  you  hve  in,  where  you  work, 
and  reckons  you  up  by  how  much  your  salary 
is.  Jesus  does  not  reckon  that  way.  See  that 
sailor — drunken,  filthy,  vile  of  lip  and  impure  in 
soul — a  drunken  sailor.  Nobody  wanted  him; 
nobody  cared  for  him.  God  looked  at  him  and 
saved  him ;  and  his  name  was  John  Newton,  the 
poet,  the  preacher,  but  God  could  see  the  theo- 
logian, the  preacher,  in  the  drunken  sailor.  See 
that  man,  a  swearing  tinker;  so  swearing,  he 
says  of  himself,  that  when  he  began  to  swear 
his  neighbours  shuddered.  Nobody  wanted  that 
tinker.  But  God  looked  at  him  and  saved  him ; 
and  his  name  was  John  Bunyan,  the  immortal 
dreamer.  You  would  not  have  looked  for  the 
"  Pilgrim's    Progress "  in   that  swearing    tinker. 


As  Jesus  Passed  By ;  or,  Follow  Me    1 9 

God  looked  at  that  man,  a  publican — and  you 
know  what  a  pubHcan  is — helping  his  brother  to 
sell  beer  in  Gloucester.  God  looked  at  him  and 
saved  him ;  and  his  name  was  George  Whitefield, 
the  mighty  preacher.  Look  at  that  man  selling 
boots  and  shoes  in  a  shoe  store  in  Chicago.  God 
looked  at  him  and  saved  him,  and  when  He 
took  the  trouble  to  save  him  and  that  young 
fellow  offered  himself  to  a  Congregational  Church 
as  a  Church  member,  they  saw  so  little  in  him 
that  they  put  him  back  on  trial  for  twelve 
months  ;  and  his  name  was  Moody.  And  Moody 
has  put  one  hand  on  America  and  another  hand 
on  Britain,  and  they  moved  towards  the  Cross. 
See  that  man,  the  plaything  of  the  village,  full 
of  devilry,  mischief,  roguery,  fond  of  pleasure 
and  sin.  Nobody  cared  for  him  except  his 
mates,  and  God  saved  him;  and  his  name  was 
Peter  Mackenzie,  a  sunbeam  in  the  lives  of  thou- 
sands. Look  at  this  picture — a  gipsy  tent ;  there 
is  a  father  and  five  httle  motherless  children, 
without  a  Bible,  without  school.  Nobody  wanted 
them — who  does  want  a  gipsy  ?  Nobody — out- 
sider, ostracized,  despised,  and  rejected.  But 
God  looked  on  that  poor  father  and  those  five 
motherless  little  things  and  saw  them  in  their 


20  As  Jesus  Passed  By;  or,  Follow  Me 

ignorance  and  heathenism,  hungry  for  God. 
And  He  looked  again,  and  He  said,  "  There 
are  six  preachers  in  that  tent."  And  He  put 
those  arms  that  were  nailed  to  the  tree  round 
the  father  and  the  children  and  saved  them  all ; 
and  I  am  one  of  them.  It  takes  love  to  see. 
Love  saw  more  in  Matthew  than  anybody ;  and 
sees  more  in  you,  my  brother,  than  anybody 
else ;  and  if  no  one  wants  you,  He  does,  and  if 
no  one  loves  you,  He  does.  If  no  one  cares,  He 
cares ;  and  if  you  think  there  is  not  a  friend  in 
the  world,  you  have  more  friends  than  you  think, 
and  they  are  closer  to  you  than  you  dream.  God 
is  here,  and  He  says,  "  Come  to  Me,  follow  Me, 
and  I  will  save  you ;  I  will  give  you  a  chance  for 
this  world  and  the  next.     Only  follow  Me." 

Matthew  never  did  a  wiser  or  nobler  thing 
than  when  he  took  Christ  home.  Everybody 
there  had  a  chance  of  blessing  that  day.  Think 
of  what  it  would  mean  for  your  home  if  you,  my 
brother,  took  Christ  home  with  you.  Your  wife 
and  children  would  have  a  chance  they  have 
never  had  before.  If  both  of  you — husband  and 
wife — bow  at  His  dear  feet  together,  what  joy 
there  will  be  in  heaven  and  on  earth  !  It  would 
mean  your  home  for  Jesus.    You  will  give  Christ 


As  Jesus  Passed  By ;  or.  Follow  Me   2 1 

a  chance  with  every  child  in  your  home  by 
taking  Him  there.  Matthew  took  Jesus  home 
with  him ;  and  He  will  go  home  with  you  if  you 
will  ask  Him,  and  He  will  go  with  you  this 
night.     God  help  you  ! 

I  can  believe  there  are  scores  and  hundreds 
who  mean  to  follow  Jesus.  Who  will  leave  all 
to  follow  Jesus?  Who  will  sacrifice  everything 
for  Jesus'  sake  ?  Who  will  take  their  stand  for 
Jesus,  and  who  will  go  home  and  say  to  their 
friends,  "  I  have  come  to  tell  you  what  great 
things  the  Lord  hath  done  for  me  "  ?  Jesus  calls 
to  you.     Will  you  follow  ? 


II 

REPENT  YE! 


"  Jesus  came  into  Galilee,  preaching,    .    ,     .    saying.  Re- 
pent YE." — Mark  J  :  14,  /j. 


II 

REPENT  YE! 

The  Bible,  especially  the  New  Testament,  is 
the  handbook  of  repentance.  It  commands  it,  it 
urges  it,  enforces  it,  repeats  it,  drives  it  in  every- 
where. Over  sixty  times  repentance  is  enforced. 
The  great  doctrine  of  repentance  occupies  a  very 
prominent  place  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  His  apostles.  All  the  epistles  were  written 
to  show  men  how  to  do  it,  because  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  vital  communion,  fellowship  with 
God,  without  it.  And  I  want  to  speak  plainly 
about  Bible  repentance,  and  I  pray  God  to  help 
me,  for  I  have  not  anything  pleasant  to  say.  It 
is  far  easier  to  congratulate  than  it  is  to  expostu- 
late. My  business  is  not  to  speak  smooth  things, 
but  to  say  some  things  that  you  may  resist  fight, 
get  angry  with  ;  and  you  may  get  angry  with  me 
for  saying  them,  but  they  are  here,  and  it  is  my 
business  to  say,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord."  There 
is  no  intelligent  conversion  without  an  intelligent 
understanding  of  these  words.  May  the  Holy 
25 


26  Repent  Ye! 

Spirit  breathe  light  upon  these  truths,  and  help 
us  to  see  them  !  For  it  is  my  business  to  make 
you  see  what  God  means  when  He  says,  "  Re- 
pent ye." 

I  am  afraid  that  in  our  zeal  to  get  people  into 
the  kingdom  or  the  Church  we  have  lowered  the 
standard.  These  words  meant  far  more  when 
they  were  uttered  than  they  do  to-day  with  most 
people.  I  am  afraid  the  familiar  way  with  which 
we  use  them  and  the  constant  contact  with  them 
and  with  the  daily  handling  of  them,  we  have 
somehow  allowed  their  edge  to  be  worn  off 
They  do  not  mean  as  much  to  us.  The  depth, 
the  breadth,  the  height,  the  length  of  these  mighty 
utterances  do  not  search  us  and  illuminate  ancf 
startle,  and  thrill  and  overwhelm  as  they  used  to. 
But  they  do  mean  as  much.  If  we  have  not 
eyes  to  see  and  ears  to  hear,  if  by  long  contami- 
nation with  evil,  and  soothing  the  conscience 
with  opiates  from  hell,  if  crying,  "  Peace  "  where 
there  is  no  peace  has  brought  a  stupor  upon  us, 
that  is  our  reponsibility,  not  God's  or  His  Word's. 
God  means  as  much  by  these  words  to-day  when 
He  says,  "  Repent  ye,"  as  He  did  when  they 
were  first  uttered.  I  am  afraid  we  have  brought 
them   down,  we   have   lowered  them,  we   have 


Repent  Ye!  27 

pulled  them  from  their  heights  down  to  the  low 
levels  of  our  own  poor  experiences.  But  that  is 
not  the  way  to  climb  with  measured  step  the 
hills  of  light,  and  walk  in  unbroken  fellowship 
with  God.  I  am  afraid  that  in  our  zeal  to  get 
people  into  what  we  call  the  Church  we  have 
been  more  anxious  about  heads  than  hearts.  In 
order  to  capture,  we  have  compromised  and  lost. 
We  have  been  more  concerned  about  filling  our 
Church  registers  than  we  have  about  the  king- 
dom. We  have  not  sufficiently  emphasized  the 
greatness  of  coming  to  Christ,  and  we  have  said, 
*'  It  is  only  a  step."  Who  told  you  so  ?  Only  a 
step  to  Jesus  ?  It  is  not  true.  It  is  not  gospel. 
Only  a  step  to  Jesus?  Then  it  is  a  very  big 
step.  We  have  made  it  a  very  little  thing,  and 
we  have  multitudes  ofpeople  joining  the  Churches. 
It  is  child's  play.  It  used  not  to  be.  When  I 
came  to  Christ  I  came  under  the  old  Act.  It 
was  a  conflict,  it  was  a  warfare,  it  was  a  pilgrim- 
age, it  was  a  struggle,  it  was  cutting  off  the 
right  arm  and  plucking  out  the  right  eye,  it  was 
being  maimed  if  necessary.  It  meant  sacrifice. 
There  was  a  day  in  our  calendar  called  Good 
Friday ;  there  was  a  place  called  Calvary.  It 
meant    coming    out,    being    forsaken,    abused, 


28  Repent  Ye! 

slandered,  rejected,  despised,  hated,  persecuted, 
a  fool  for  Christ's  sake,  sneered  at,  laughed  at, 
misrepresented,  suffering  the  cross.  What  does 
it  mean  now  ?  A  picnic.  It  is  a  "  social,"  it 
is  an  entertainment,  it  is  a  guild,  an  ordinance ; 
and  with  multitudes  of  people  who  call  them- 
selves Christians  it  means  nothing  more.  We 
have  made  it  too  easy,  but  Jesus  never  made  it 
so :  He  never  deluded  anybody.  He  never 
cried  "  Peace  "  where  there  was  no  peace.  He 
knew  the  danger  of  saying  "  Peace  "  when  the 
soul  was  in  anarchy  and  the  will  in  rebellion, 
and  the  whole  man  against  God.  He  could  not 
cry  "  Peace." 

'  No,  He  never  made  it  easy.  We  have  said  to 
anybody  and  everybody,  "  Only  believe."  The 
New  Testament  does  not  say  so.  The  devil 
believes,  and  believes  more  than  you  do ;  in 
his  heart  he  knows  more  about  it.  He  believes  ; 
and  if  he  says  he  does  not,  he  is  a  liar,  he  is 
shamming.  He  believes  far  more  than  any  of 
us,  but  he  is  not  a  saint.  Jesus  has  never  made 
it  easy.  There  was  one  man  who  came  and 
asked,  "  Are  there  few  that  be  saved  ?  "  and  He 
said,  "  Strive,  struggle,  agonize  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate."     He  never  made  it  easy.     Here  is 


Repent  Ye!  29 

another  man  who  came  and  said,  "  Lord,  I  will 
follow  Thee  whithersoever  Thou  goest."  But 
Jesus  knew  he  had  not  counted  the  cost,  and 
said,  "  Foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air 
have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where 
to  lay  His  head."  Here  is  another  who  came 
and  said,  "  Lord,  what  shall  I  do  to  inherit 
eternal  life  ? "  Jesus  diagnosed  the  case  in- 
stantly, and  put  His  finger  on  the  weak  spot  of 
his  life  and  said,  "  If  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  sell  all 
thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  come,  follow 
Me."  He  did  not  make  it  easy.  Here  is  another 
man  who  came  and  said,  "  Lord,  we  know  that 
Thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God ;  for  no  man 
can  do  these  miracles  that  Thou  doest,  except 
God  be  with  him."  Jesus  said  to  him,  "  Ye 
must  be  born  again."  And  to  the  multitude  of 
people  who  listened  to  Him  He  said,  "  If  any 
man  will  be  My  disciple,  let  him  take  up  his 
cross  and  deny  himself."  He  never  made  it 
easy;  and  the  man  who  makes  it  easy  to  be  a 
Christian  preaches  a  mongrel  gospel.  Jesus 
said,  "  Repent."  John  preached  repentance. 
He  came  to  preach  it.  It  had  the  first  place  in 
his  sermons.  It  was  first  and  last  with  John, 
"  Repent,  repent."     You  say  it  is  too  startling, 


30  Repent  Ye! 

sensational,  vulgar ;  but  remember,  it  was  God's 
vulgarity.  "  Repent."  No  man  who  preaches 
as  John  did  will  be  popular. 

They  put  John  in  prison  for  preaching  repent- 
ance, and  so  that  the  doctrine  should  not  be 
silent,  as  soon  as  John  was  shut  up  Jesus  began 
where  John  left  off,  and  His  first  public  sermon 
to  the  world  was  on  repentance.  He  knew 
where  to  begin.  "  Repent  ye,"  said  Jesus. 
That  is  His  first  utterance,  and  if  you  care  to  go 
to  His  last  before  He  left  His  disciples  and  was 
received  up  yonder  in  the  clouds.  He  gave  them 
the  commission  to  go  and  preach  repentance. 
So  that  in  the  first  and  the  last  utterances  of  the 
Son  of  God  you  have  repentance  enforced.  And 
when  He  was  back  again  on  the  throne,  when 
angels  and  archangels  had  received  Him  with 
the  shouts  of  triumph  and  welcome  which  He 
deserved,  when  He  had  been  exalted  as  a  Prince 
and  a  Saviour  to  give  repentance,  as  though  He 
knew  that  some  of  us  would  shrink  from  driving 
it  in,  as  though  He  knew  that  some  of  us  would 
be  afraid  to  push  it  home.  He  said  to  Saul, 
"  Saul,  you  go  to  the  Gentiles  and  make  them — 
make  them — do  works  meet  for  repentance." 

Jesus  never  made  it  easy.     Let  any  man  who 


Repent  Ye!  31 

ever  tried  honestly  but  one  day  in  his  hfe  to 
serve  God  with  all  his  powers,  let  him  tell  me  if 
it  was  an  easy  thing  to  do.  It  is  not  easy.  It  is 
a  struggle,  it  is  a  fight.  Jesus  Christ  on  Calvary 
is  not  a  substitute  for  the  Hfe  He  means  you  to 
live,  but  the  means  by  which  you  get  the  power 
to  live  the  life.  No,  there  is  no  salvation  with- 
out repentance-  This  is  the  first  step.  First 
things  first.  And  the  man  who  misses  repent- 
ance will  miss  everything.  If  your  repentance  is 
shallow  your  religious  Hfe  will  be  shallow.  If 
your  coming  to  Christ  does  not  mean  everything 
you  win  not  get  everything.  If  your  surrender 
is  not  complete  you  cannot  receive.  If  your 
hands  are  filled  you  cannot  take  hold.  It  is  only 
those  who  come  empty-handed  that  can  cling. 
It  is  only  those  who  turn  from  darkness  to  light 
that  understand  God.  It  is  only  those  who  leave 
the  devil  who  can  receive  God.  No,  we  must 
repent. 

"  Then,"  you  say,  "  what  is  repentance  ?  " 
Listen — it  is  not  conviction.  It  is  possible  to  be 
convicted  without  repentance.  Why,  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  meet  and  talk  with  anybody  in  these 
days  but  at  some  moment  of  their  life's  history 
they  have  been  convicted  of  their  need  of  Christ. 


32  Repent  Ye  I 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  meet  with  anybody  who 
does  not  know  what  he  ought  to  do  and  what  he 
ought  to  be.  You  cannot  meet  and  talk  with 
any  man  that  has  not  light  about  these  things ; 
but  light  is  not  Ufe. 

What  brings  you  to  a  mission  service  ?  Deep 
down  in  your  conscience,  the  soul  of  you,  the 
man  of  you,  back  of  everything,  hid  away  that 
nobody  else  can  see,  there  is  a  real  cry  in  your 
soul  for  God.  That  is  conviction.  That  is  God- 
given  ;  that  is  Holy  Ghost-brought,  that  is  the 
result  of  the  light  that  flashes  over  the  cliff-tops 
of  eternity,  that  is  the  soul's  awakening.  It  is 
one  thing  to  be  awake,  it  is  another  thing  to  get 
up.  You  have  often  heard  your  minister  preach. 
Maybe  you  have  been  hearing  him  for  years. 
Perhaps  you  sit  in  the  gallery  or  away  back  in 
one  of  the  pews,  or  near  to  him,  and  every  time  he 
preaches  and  you  hear  him,  you  go  home  and 
say,  "  My  pastor  is  right ;  I  ought  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian, I  know  I  ought,"  and  you  feel  beneath  the 
powerful  pleadings  of  your  own  pastor,  beneath 
the  pleadings  of  the  evangelist,  you  know  God's 
claims,  you  admit  them,  you  feel  them.  They 
are  right,  they  are  reasonable,  and  you  ought  to 
surrender.     That   is   conviction.     But  it  is  one 


Repent  Ye!  33 

thing  to  be  convicted  and  another  thing  to  re- 
pent.    Conviction  is  not  repentance. 

What  is  repentance  ?  It  is  not  sorrow.  Sor- 
row for  sin  is  one  element  of  repentance,  but 
you  can  be  sorry  without  repentance.  There  is 
a  kind  of  sentimental  sorrow,  a  sorrow  at  the 
thought  of  coming  retribution  and  exposure, 
which  is  mean,  selfish,  devilish,  and  is  not  healthy 
and  life-giving.  There  is  a  sorrow  that  weeps  at 
funerals  and  sentimental  plays,  and  weeps  be- 
neath the  ordinary  preaching  and  the  special 
preaching.  There  are  multitudes  of  people  who 
think  they  are  not  far  from  the  kingdom  because 
their  tears  come  easily;  they  whisper  all  sorts 
of  sweet  messages  to  themselves  because  they 
can  weep.  They  tell  themselves  they  are  not 
hard,  and  therefore  there  must  be  hope  for  them, 
and  all  the  while  they  are  holding  on  to  for- 
bidden things  and  walking  in  forbidden  paths, 
and  keeping  company  with  those  who  are  des- 
troying them  and  leading  them  far  from  God.  It 
is  no  good  to  cover  God's  altar  with  tears  while 
your  heart  is  in  rebellion.  It  is  no  good  to  hold 
out  one  hand  apparently  to  the  Cross  with  the 
other  holding  on  to  a  black  hand  behind  you. 
You  cannot  hold  Dagon  in  one  hand  and  the 


34  Repent  Ye! 

Ark  of  the  Covenant  in  the  other.  You  cannot 
serve  God  and  mammon.  It  is  no  good  to  sing 
on  Sunday  with  your  face  towards  the  Cross  and 
on  Monday  with  your  feet  towards  the  beershop. 
I  sat  in  a  home  a  few  days  ago  playing  with  a 
boy  of  ten.  His  face  was  bright  as  the  sun. 
He  looked  as  happy  as  any  child  in  the  home, 
calling  me  "  Uncle."  Presently  his  mother  had 
missed  something,  and  she  came  in  and  said, 
"Jack,  have  you  taken  so-and-so?"  His  head 
dropped.  "  Jack,  have  you  taken  so-and-so  ?  " 
No   answer.     "  Jack  " — and  she  came  and  put 

her  hand  on  his  shoulder — "  did  you  take " 

"  Yes,  mother ;  "  and  he  began  to  cry.  Oh,  he 
was  sorry;  he  did  look  sorry;  he  sobbed  as 
though  his  heart  would  break.  What  for  ?  He 
was  just  as  guilty  five  minutes  before,  and  he 
knew  he  was.  What  made  him  sorry?  Sorry 
that  he  had  sinned  against  his  mother?  No. 
Sorry  that  he  had  sinned  against  God?  No. 
Well,  what  was  his  sorrow  ?  He  was  sorry  be- 
cause he  was  found  out.  And  there  are  multi- 
tudes of  professing  Christians  whose  religious 
sorrow  is  no  deeper.  That  is  the  sorrow  that 
worketh  death.  There  is  a  godly  sorrow,  sorrow 
because  I  have  sinned  against  God.     "  Against 


Repent  Ye!  35 

Thee,  Thee  only,  have  I  sinned,  and  done  this 
evil  in  Thy  sight.  .  .  .  For  Thou  desirest 
truth  in  the  hidden  parts,  honesty  where  no  eye 
but  Thine  can  see,  transparency  where  no  light 
but  Thine  can  penetrate."  There  is  a  sorrow 
that  means  death.  There  is  a  sorrow  for  sin  that 
worketh  life.     Which  is  yours  ? 

What  is  repentance  ?  Listen.  It  is  not  prom- 
ising to  be  better.  There  are  plenty  of  people 
who  have  been  promising  to  be  better  ever  since 
they  can  remember,  from  boyhood  or  girlhood. 
When  God  has  laid  His  hand  upon  them,  as 
He  does  in  a  thousand  ways,  they  are  ready  to 
promise,  and  do  promise.  Where  are  you,  you 
who  have  been  making  promises  till  your  hair  is 
gray  and  broken  every  one  of  theqi,  and  angels 
beholding  your  shattered  promises  have  shud- 
dered to  the  tips  of  their  wings  ?  You  are  fur- 
ther from  God  than  ever  you  were  in  your  life, 
with  all  your  promises.  Your  psalm-singing  and 
your  hymn-singing,  and  your  church-going,  and 
your  offerings,  and  all  the  rest  of  your  religious 
paraphernaha,  are  so  much  mockery  because  you 
have  not  walked  the  straight  and  blessed  path 
of  obedience  and  trust. 

It  is  not  enough  to  promise.     It  means  more 


36  Repent  Ye! 

than  that  If  it  is  not  conviction,  if  it  is  not 
sorrow,  if  it  is  not  the  desire  to  be  better  and 
the  promise  to  be  better,  what  is  it  ?  What  is 
repentance  ?  Is  it  crying  ?  No.  Is  it  excite- 
ment ?  No.  Is  it  emotion  ?  Is  it  kneeling 
down  and  groaning?  No.  Is  it  going  and 
hearing  preachers  ?     No. 

What  is  it  ?  Listen.  Jesus  Christ  tells  you  in 
that  beautiful  picture  in  the  fifteenth  of  Luke. 
It  is  a  wonderful  chapter.  There  are  three  cases 
in  that  chapter — the  silver,  the  sheep,  and  the 
son.  The  sheep  was  lost  out  of  the  fold,  the 
silver  was  lost  in  the  house.  The  sheep  was  lost 
without  any  intention  of  being  lost,  but  it  was 
lost.  The  silver  was  lost  in  the  house  through 
somebody's  carelessness,  and  it  may  be  there  is 
somebody  lost  in  your  house,  in  your  pew  in  the 
church,  through  somebody's  carelessness.  God 
help  you  to  find  out  who  that  somebody  is ! 
The  son  was  lost,  and  it  was  his  own  fault.  He 
was  a  prodigal  before  he  left  home.  He  was  a 
rebel  before  he  got  a  penny  of  his  fortune.  He 
was  as  bad  in  heart  and  in  mind  before  he  re- 
ceived a  cent  of  the  money  as  when  he  had  spent 
it  all.  He  was  guilty  the  moment  he  said  to 
himself,  "  I  will  demand  the  portion  of  goods 


Repent  Ye!  37 

that  falleth  to  me."  When  the  sheep  went  astray 
a  man  went  after  it.  When  the  silver  was  lost 
a  woman  went  after  it.  When  the  son  went 
astray  nobody  went  after  him.  How  is  that? 
Remember  who  told  the  story.  Nobody  went 
for  him.  How  is  that  ?  Because  he  was  a  man, 
because  he  was  a  moral  agent,  because  he  was 
accountable  to  God  for  his  own  act.  Why  did 
not  the  father  gather  his  servants  with  the  eider 
brother,  why  did  he  not  gather  his  neighbours 
together,  and  say,  "  Look  here,  I  have  lost  my 
boy,  let  us  go  and  find  him  and  bring  him  back 
in  spite  of  himself"?  Why  did  he  not?  Be- 
cause if  they  had  brought  him  back  again  he 
would  have  been  a  prodigal  still,  he  would  have 
been  a  rebel  inside  the  house  as  well  as  out  of  it, 
for  no  man  comes  till  he  returns;  and  heaven 
and  the  Bible,  Christ  and  Calvary,  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  eternity  stand  absolutely  defeated  be- 
fore the  citadel  of  the  human  will.  Do  not  for- 
get it.  Listen.  The  prodigal  went  astray,  took 
every  step  from  the  homestead  of  his  own  delib- 
erate choice,  step  by  step  away  up  into  the  far 
country,  and  he  had  to  come  to  himself,  he  had 
to  come  back  every  inch  of  the  way,  and  he  did 
not  send  a  letter  home  to  his  father  and  say,  "  If 


38  Repent  Ye! 

you  will  send  the  old  chariot  I  will  come  home," 
and  he  did  not  ask  anybody  to  give  him  a  lift. 
He  had  to  walk  back  every  inch  his  own  self, 
step  by  step,  with  bleeding  feet  and  aching  head, 
and  broken  heart.  He  had  to  do  it.  *•  But," 
you  say,  "  the  father  ran  to  meet  him,  did  he 
not?"  Yes,  he  did,  and  He  will  run  to  meet 
you  when  He  sees  you  coming,  but  you  must 
come.  Coming  is  repentance.  It  is  the  response 
of  the  will.  Repentance  is  the  response  of  the 
enlightened,  redeemed  man  to  the  call  of  God, 
the  *♦  I  will "  of  the  soul.  It  is  putting  your  hand 
on  your  heart  and  getting  hold  of  what  has  been 
your  curse,  the  thing  that  has  chained  you.  It 
is  getting  hold  of  the  thing  that  has  made  hell 
of  earth  for  you,  the  sin  of  your  heart — for  I 
have  discovered  that  there  may  be  a  dozen  sins 
in  a  man's  life,  but  there  are  not  a  dozen  that 
predominate;  there  is  one  overmastering,  pre- 
dominating, all-prevailing  sin  that  enslaves  and 
damns,  and  if  that  sin  goes  everything  goes.  It 
is  putting  your  hand  in  your  heart  and  plucking 
that  out  by  the  hair  of  its  head  and  saying  to 
God,  "  That  it  is,  and  I  will  die  before  I  will  sin 
again."  Have  you  repented  in  that  fashion? 
Don't  talk  about  Church  membership,  don't  ir\ 


Repent  Ye!  39 

suit  God  by  talking  about  the  Communion  until 
you  have  done  this :  this  is  the  first  thing  and 
the  others  will  not  be  expected  until  you  have 
done  this. 

"  Repent  ye/'  make  a  full  surrender  to 
God. 

Brother,  listen  to  me  once  more.  Repentance, 
when  it  is  done,  is  such  a  beautiful  thing  that 
Jesus  Himself  said,  "  There  is  joy  in  heaven  over 
one  sinner  that  repenteth."  Have  you  repented 
along  that  line  ?  There  are  some  of  you  who  do 
not  understand  how  it  is  you  have  no  peace  and 
no  joy  in  your  profession.  I  know,  just  as  well 
as  if  I  lived  with  you,  I  know  if  you  have  no  joy 
and  no  peace  in  your  professed  faith  it  is  because 
you  have  never  turned  to  God  wholly.  Some  of 
you  say,  "  I  want  peace."  Never  mind  peace ; 
do  as  you  are  told,  and  peace  will  come.  There 
are  some  people  more  concerned  about  nice  feel- 
ings, happy  feelings,  ecstasies  and  joys,  and  all 
the  rest  of  it,  than  they  are  about  putting  God  in 
His  place.  You  put  God  in  His  place,  and  you 
will  have  peace ;  you  honour  God,  and  you  will 
have  peace. 

A  dear  fellow  came  to  me  when  I  was  in 
South  Africa,  and  he  said,  "  Sir,  I  want  to  get 


40  Repent  Ye! 

relief  from  a  guilty  conscience,"  and  he  had  an 
awful  story  to  tell,  a  story  that  made  me  shudder. 
He  unfolded  a  page  in  his  history  that  I  dare  not 
tell  you.  Then  he  said,  "  Sir,  I  want  God's  par- 
don." I  said,  "  My  brother,  how  do  you  expect 
to  get  it  ?  "  He  said,  "  By  an  honest  attempt  to 
undo  the  past."  "  Then,"  I  said, "  turn  your  face 
that  way  and  wait  for  peace."  "  But,"  he  said, 
"  that  will  mean  prison,  and  it  may  mean  a  Hfe- 
time  in  prison."  I  said,  **  Turn  your  face  that 
way.  It  is  no  good  to  talk  about  peace  while 
there  is  wrong  to  be  righted,  while  there  are 
stripes  that  need  to  be  washed ;  it  is  no  use  to 
talk  about  peace  till  you  get  right  with  God. 
The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink, 
but  righteousness  and  peace."  Righteousness, 
that  means  rightness,  wholeness,  harmony — and 
then  the  music.  There  will  be  no  music  till  the 
instrument  is  put  in  tune.  You  know  where 
you  have  to  yield ;  you  know  the  point  of  con- 
troversy between  you  and  God;  you  know  the 
thing  that  has  hindered  you,  you  know  the  thing 
that  robbed  you,  you  know  the  thing  that  has 
darkened  your  sky,  you  know  the  thing  that  has 
come  in  between  you  and  God,  you  know  the 
thing  about  which  you  have  persisted  in  having 


Repent  Ye!  41 

your  own  way  and  not  God's.     When  you  yield 
on  that  thing,  you  will  repent. 

Will  you  do  it  now  ?  "  But,"  you  say,  **  I 
am  a  Church  member."  Never  mind.  You  say 
there  is  some  one  near  that  knows  you.  Never 
mind.  You  say  people  expect  better  things  of 
you.  Never  mind.  Be  honest.  Put  God  in 
His  right  place.  Turn  from  sin  to  God,  from 
darkness  to  light — and  you  can  do  the  turning. 
The  Spirit  enlightens,  the  Spirit  breeds  tender- 
ness, the  Spirit  coaxes,  woos,  tries  to  win.  God 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  doing  His  work  in  your  heart, 
but,  brother,  you  must  submit.  When  you  sub- 
mit wholly,  that  is  repentance.  God  help  you 
to  do  it ! 


Ill 

BORN    AGAIN 


**  Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee,  Ye  must  be  born  again." 


Ill 

BORN  AGAIN 

In  my  last  address  I  spoke  about  repentance, 
and  I  tried  to  show  you  that  repentance  is  some- 
thing that  we  must  do  if  we  mean  to  be  saved, 
that  God  commands  it,  that  it  is  a  universal  com- 
mand, that  it  is  immediate. 

Now  my  theme  goes  a  little  further.  I  want 
to  speak  about  something  that  must  be  done  in 
us  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  "  Except 
a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom 
of  Godr 

Then,  if  that  be  true,  I  am  not  surprised  that 
Jesus  said  with  all  the  emphasis  of  the  Godhead 
to  this  man,  "  Ye  must  be  born  again!'  You  may 
read  it  this  way,  if  you  will — "  Ye  must  be  born 
anew,"  or  this  way,  "  Ye  must  be  born  from 
above."  Whichever  way  you  take  it,  it  means  a 
new  creature,  the  heart  all  wrong  made  right ;  it 
means  the  source  of  the  life  must  be  put  right 
and  in  harmony  with  God,  and  the  life  flowing 
out  of  it  purified,  new  created.  The  centre  must 
45 


46  Born  Again 

be  in  harmony  with  the  will  of  God.  "  A  new 
creature,"  "  a  new  creation,"  the  life  above  brought 
into  and  lived  out  upon  earth. 

Now  there  are  many  people  who  think  the 
Lord  can  make  them  good  somehow  or  other 
just  when  they  are  going  to  die.  Now  I  claim 
if  the  Lord  can  do  that  just  when  I  am  going  to 
die  He  can  do  it  while  I  am  living,  and  if  He 
cannot  do  it  while  I  am  living  He  cannot  do  it 
when  I  am  going  to  die.  And  I  claim  that  the 
Lord  can  make  every  man  and  every  woman 
good,  so  good  that  He  can  look  from  His  throne 
on  the  work  of  His  hands  and  pronounce  it 
good,  and  be  pleased  with  it.  Some  of  you  say, 
"  I  don't  believe  it."  I  do.  If  He  could  make 
\dam  good  out  of  nothing  He  can  make  you 
good  out  of  what  is  left.  On  reading  these 
words,  please  put  the  emphasis  on  the  words  must 
and  again.  "  Ye  must  be  born  again!'  Now 
don't  fight  me  because  I  bring  this  old  fashioned 
truth  and  press  it  home  upon  your  conscience. 
Don't  get  angry  with  me  because  I  try  to  make 
you  face  the  great  doctrine  of  the  new  birth. 
Don't  turn  up  your  nose  and  act  as  though  you 
had  outgrown  this.  This  man  probably  knew 
more  than  you  do,  and  perhaps  he  was  a  far  bet- 


Born  Again  47 

ter  moral  man  than  you  are,  and  probably  he 
had  a  better  standing  in  the  Church  and  in  so- 
ciety than  any  of  us.  But  Jesus  Christ  could  not 
spare  him,  and  did  not  spare  him.  He  loved  him 
too  much  to  compromise.  He  did  not  lower  the 
standard,  and  He  could  not  make  the  way  into 
the  kingdom  of  His  grace  easy,  not  even  for  a 
master  in  Israel.  Do  not,  I  beseech  you,  think 
that  this  is  an  old-fashioned  theme.  I  know 
it  is,  but  it  is  the  only  theme.  I  know  it  is  an 
old  story,  but  it  is  the  only  story.  If  you  have 
got  a  soul  and  an  appetite,  it  is  as  new  as  the 
sunshine  that  streams  through  the  gates  of  the 
morning.  It  is  as  fresh  as  the  dewdrops  that 
hang  Hke  so  many  of  God's  diamonds,  sparkling 
in  the  sunshine.  It  is  as  beautiful  as  the  rose., 
on  a  June  morning,  it  is  as  fresh  as  a  breath  fror^i 
the  hills  of  God.  It  is  not  stale,  it  is  not  played 
out,  it  is  not  old-fashioned.  It  is  a  spring  that 
rjever  runs  dry ;  it  is  a  power,  and  the  only  power, 
mat  can  break  fetters  and  can  snap  chains,  that 
can  open  blind  eyes  and  cure  wounded  lives, 
that  can  hush  storms  and  still  tempests.  It  is 
the  power  that  can  lift  men  from  sin  and  ruin, 
utter  and  complete,  back  again  to  God.  Oh,  for 
the  power  to  emphasize  it ! 


48  Born  Again 

I  know  there  are  some  people  who  think  we 
are  antiquated  when  we  preach  the  new  birth — 
old-fashioned,  harmless  perhaps,  but  a  little  to  be 
pitied.  Brother,  they  will  sing  about  this  around 
the  steps  of  the  throne.  Old-fashioned  ?  It  is 
the  song  that  keeps  heaven  warm.  The  central 
attraction  of  the  skies  is  He  who  hung  on  the 
nails.  As  you  walk  down  some  picture  gallery 
and  view  a  special  masterpiece  of  some  old  artist, 
world-famed  and  celebrated,  so  when  you  reach 
heaven,  if  you  get  there,  and  walk  through  the 
picture-gallery  of  the  skies,  the  picture  that  will 
stand  out  and  outshine  and  live  and  thrill  and  at- 
tract its  millions  will  be  the  picture  of  the  cross 
and  its  dying  Saviour.  Don't  think  you  have  got 
beyond  the  teaching  of  the  new  birth,  and  don't 
dare  to  say  we  do  not  need  that.  Don't  you  ? 
What,  not  after  that  company  you  kept  last  Sat- 
urday ?  Don't  you  ?  What,  not  after  what  hap- 
pened to-day  in  the  city  ?  Not  after  what  you 
did  to-day  in  your  office  or  home  ?  Why,  some 
of  you  have  got  a  letter  in  your  pocket  that  you 
would  be  ashamed  to  let  me  see.  God  reads 
every  line.  Listen :  "  Ye  must  be  born  again." 
That  is  what  is  the  matter  with  you.  You  want 
a  new  heart.     God  looks  at  the  heart. 


Born  Again  49 

This  is  not  my  word ;  Jesus  said  it.  That  is 
what  I  want  you  to  see,  that  if  you  turn  up  your 
nose  at  the  message  or  sneer  at  the  preacher 
when  he  announces  the  text,  "  Ye  must  be  born 
again,"  or  if  you  think  you  have  got  beyond  it, 
that  it  is  out  of  date,  and  old-fashioned,  will  you 
remember  that  He  who  is  the  Jewel  for  which 
this  vast  universe  is  the  mere  setting  turned  aside 
from  the  manufacture  of  worlds  and  the  control- 
ling of  the  universe,  stepped  aside  from  it  all  to 
whisper  this  into  the  heart  of  dying  humanity. 
Jesus  said  it — not  the  preacher,  but  Jesus. 

And  this  doctrine  does  not  belong  to  the 
Methodist  Church  any  more  than  it  does  to 
the  Baptist  Church,  and  it  does  not  belong  to 
the  Episcopalian  Church  any  more  than  it  does 
to  the  Salvation  Army.  They  all  preach  it — 
that  is,  if  they  are  loyal  to  Christ — and  they  live 
it  as  they  follow  Him.  They  cannot  help  it. 
This  is  as  old  as  the  hills,  a  little  older  than  the 
Church.  John  Wesley  preached  from  this  text, 
but  he  did  not  invent  it,  and  the  Methodist 
Church  is  the  monument  and  the  outcome  of  that 
mighty  preaching.  George  Whitefield  preached 
from  this  text,  and  preached  from  it  three  hun- 
dred times,  but  he  did  not  invent  it.     General 


^o  Born  Again 

Booth,  one  of  the  most  wonderful  men  God 
ever  gave  to  the  world,  who  with  his  band  of 
consecrated  followers  has  belted  the  globe  with  a 
golden  cable  of  song  of  salvation,  and  will  take 
tens  of  thousands  from  the  slums  and  sewers  of 
city  life  to  walk  the  streets  of  the  New  Jerusalem  in 
white,  he  preached  from  it,  but  he  did  not  invent 
it.  It  is  no  human  invention.  Jesus  Christ 
said  it.  Do  not  forget  that.  If  you  will  reahze 
who  uttered  these  words  you  will  learn  to  respect 
them,  and  you  will  uncover  your  head  and  bow 
before  them ;  if,  then,  you  cannot  comprehend 
the  infinity  of  them,  you  will  in  silence  cease 
your  criticism.  If  you  would  fathom  their  depths 
and  scale  their  heights  and  measure  their  im- 
mensity, if  you  do  not  grasp  all  they  mean,  you 
will  be  silent ;  you  will  say  in  your  heart,  "  If 
God  has  a  message  in  them  for  me,  then.  Holy 
Spirit,  make  it  plain." 

Now  will  you  notice,  please,  to  whom  He 
said  it  ?  To  whom  did  Jesus  say  these  words  ? 
A  drunkard?  No.  A  harlot?  No.  A  mur- 
derer? No.  An  outcast  of  society  ?  No.  A 
poor  gipsy  ?  No.  I  think  if  Jesus  were  to  come 
and  speak  a  message  to  a  gipsy  tent,  knowing  its 
past  and  how  much  it  has  been  despised,  how 


Born  Again  51 

little  people  have  cared,  and  how  little  people 
have  done  to  save  its  occupants,  He  would  speak 
very  tenderly.  To  whom,  then,  did  Jesus  say 
these  words  ?  Listen.  A  church  member.  So 
you  see  it  is  possible  to  be  a  church  member 
without  being  born  again.  Henry  Drummond 
said  during  the  second  Moody  campaign,  in 
writing  to  his  friend  Professor  Barbour,  "  The 
enquiry  room  this  time,  as  before,  reveals  the 
awful  fact  that  the  vast  majority  of  Church 
members  know  nothing  about  the  new  birth. 
They  know  the  letter  of  the  law  as  well  as  they 
know  their  own  names,  but  they  are  as  ignorant 
of  free  grace  as  a  Hottentot."  It  is  possible  to 
have  your  name  down  in  the  Church  register 
without  having  it  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life.  It 
is  possible  to  take  the  cup  of  communion  and 
never  take  the  cup  of  salvation.  Jesus  uttered 
these  words  first  of  all  to  a  member  of  the 
Church,  an  office-bearer  of  the  Church  of  his 
day,  a  member  of  the  inner  circle,  a  prince, 
leader,  and  master  in  the  Church,  but  he  was 
not  born  again ;  not  a  child,  an  old  man. 
Think  of  that.  It  startled  him,  it  made  him 
think ;  and  I  would  to  God  you  would  think. 
If  I  can  only  get  a  man  to  think,  I  have  done 


52  Born  Again 

something.     The   greatest  difficulty  a  preacher 
has  is  to  get  men  to  think. 

When  Christ  said  these  words  to  this  man 
he  began  to  think  in  a  moment,  and  he  said, 
"What,  can  a  man  be  born  when  he  is  old?" 
That  is  a  very  pertinent  question.  It  is  possi- 
ble to  be  saved  when  you  are  an  old  man. 
It  is  possible,  but  it  is  improbable.  It  is  possible, 
but  it  will  be  difficult.  You  ask  my  brethren  in 
the  ministry  how  often  they  see  a  gray-head  join 
the  Church,  man  or  woman.  For  every  gray- 
head  that  comes  to  them  for  Church  membership 
they  will  tell  you  that  fifty  under  twenty-five 
will  come.  And  I  have  seen  a  few  hundreds,  a 
few  thousands,  come  to  Christ ;  the  exception  is 
a  gray-head.  The  majority  of  people  who  come 
to  Jesus  are  under  twenty-five,  and  if  you  go 
over  twenty-five,  to  thirty,  you  will  have  less. 
If  you  go  between  thirty  and  forty  you  will  have 
less,  and  if  between  forty  and  fifty  you  will  have 
less  still,  and  if  between  fifty  and  sixty  less  again, 
and  if  you  go  between  sixty  and  seventy  you 
may  write  it  down  wonderful  when  they  come. 
What  does  it  mean,  gray-heads  ?  It  means  that 
you  can  say  "  No "  to  Christ  till  you  lose  the 
desire  to  say  "  Yes."     That  is  what  it  means. 


Born  Again  53 

"  Can  a  man  be  born  when  he  is  old  ?  "  Try  to 
learn  the  piano  when  you  have  passed  sixty,  and 
see  if  it  is  easy  when  your  joints  are  grown  fixed 
and  stiff.  And  if  it  is  not  easy,  what  about  this, 
the  hardest  study  of  all,  the  study  to  show  your- 
self approved  unto  God  ?  Don't  think,  my  friend 
growing  old,  that  you  can  crowd  out  of  your  life 
the  things  of  God,  the  things  of  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, the  things  of  right,  and  holiness,  and  heaven 
— don't  think  that  you  can  shut  them  out  of  your 
life,  and  then  crowd  them  into  the  last  five  minutes 
of  your  existence.  Eternal  matters  will  demand 
a  little  longer  attention.  "  Can  a  man  be  born 
when  he  is  old  ?  "  Listen.  Yes,  he  may,  for 
when  God  says  it,  it  must  be.  He  says  it  may 
be.  But  it  will  be  a  miracle.  I  rejoice  if  a 
gray-head  comes  to  Christ,  but  I  rejoice  more 
if  a  boy  comes. 

Some  time  ago  I  was  in  a  large  testimony 
meeting  in  connection  with  the  Church  of  which 
I  am  a  member,  and  a  man  got  up  and  told  us 
how  God  had  saved  him,  and  he  had  been  a 
burglar  and  spent  so  many  years  in  prison. 
When  he  sat  down  up  got  his  chum  who  sat  be- 
side him,  and  he  told  us  with  trembling  voice 
and  with  tears  that  in  1881  he  was  before  the 


54  Born  Again 

grand  jury  for  murder,  and  that  he  had  been  in 
prison  about  twenty  years,  but  God  had  saved 
him.  He  said, "  The  jury  knew  I  was  guilty,  but 
the  drink  was  in  me.  The  judge  knew  it  too ; 
the  drink  was  in  me  when  I  did  it,  and  my  youth 
saved  me  from  hanging,  and  God  has  saved  me." 
When  he  sat  down  another  man  rose,  and  he 
said,  "  I  had  been  a  drunkard  for  twenty  years, 
and  the  Lord  saved  me."  And  when  he  sat 
down  up  got  another,  and  he  said,  "  I  have  been 
a  coiner  of  base  money,  and  God  has  saved  me." 
And  then  another  got  up  and  told  us  he  had 
been  a  prize-fighter  and  fought  so  many  battles 
and  won  every  time,  and  God  had  saved  him. 
And  then  another  man  got  up  and  said,  "  I  have 
had  a  checkered  career.  I  have  ridden  about 
Manchester  with  the  present  Prime  Minister,  and 
I  have  ridden  in  the  police  van.  I  have  been  a 
publican,  and  I  have  swept  the  floors  for  other 
publicans.  I  have  been  drunk  on  champagne, 
and  I  have  begged  a  penny  for  a  drink.  I  have 
dined  with  aldermen,  and  I  have  begged  a  crust 
in  the  street."  And  then  he  told  us  how  Jesus 
had  saved  him.  So  they  went  on,  and  I  could 
not  sit  still  any  longer.  I  got  up  and  said, 
"  Men,  listen.     God  has  done  wonders  for  you. 


Born  Again  55 

but  don't  forget  He  did  more  for  this  gipsy  boy 
than  all  of  you  put  together :  He  saved  me  be- 
fore I  got  there."  Prevention  is  better  than 
cure.  I  believe  a  fence  at  the  top  of  a  precipice 
is  better  than  a  hospital  at  the  bottom.  *'  Can  a 
man  be  born  when  he  is  old  ?  "  Yes,  he  may, 
but  God  save  the  children ! 

"  Ye  must  be."  Then  I  can  understand  some 
of  you  saying,  just  as  this  man  said,  •'  Lord 
Jesus,  blessed  Jesus,  I  don't  want  to  intrude,  but 
how  is  it  to  be  ?  Tell  me  how  it  works.  Ex- 
plain it.  I  cannot  see  it."  No,  and  you  never 
will  see  it.  "  I  cannot  understand  it."  No,  and 
you  will  never  understand  it,  but  He  will.  Your 
finite  mind  grasp  the  Infinite  ?  Don't  expect  it. 
"  If  I  could  only  see  it,  if  I  could  only  see 
through  the  process,  I  would  believe  it."  But 
you  never  will  see  through  the  process  of  it. 
You  can  believe  yourself  through,  you  can  obey 
yourself  through,  you  can  conform  to  the  pur- 
pose and  the  will  of  God  and  get  through,  but 
you  will  never  get  through  on  your  own  specu- 
lating and  asking  impertinent  questions.  That 
is  not  the  way. 

♦*  Oh,"  says  a  man,  "  tell  me  about  this  thing, 
show  me  how  the  new  birth  works."     You  ex- 


56  Born  Again 

plain  electricity  to  me,  or  sit  in  the  dark  till  you 
understand  it,  and  never  ride  in  an  electric  car 
till  you  can  understand  it.  Explain  the  dew- 
drop,  tell  me  how  the  thunder  and  the  hghtning 
slumber  in  the  dewdrop.  You  cannot  tell.  An- 
alyze the  raindrop.  You  cannot,  but  God  fath- 
ers it.  Tell  me  how  He  kisses  the  Httle  bit  of 
black  earth  in  your  garden,  and  after  He  has 
kissed  it  a  bunch  of  primroses  blooms.  Tell  me 
how  He  did  it,  or  stop  your  quibbles  about  this. 
Here  is  an  easy  one.  Tell  me  how  He  came  to 
my  gipsy  tent,  when  there  was  not  a  Bible,  be- 
fore I  could  spell  my  name,  before  I  had  ever 
heard  of  Him.  That  is  the  wonder.  Tell  me 
how  He  got  hold  of  my  father,  that  grand  old 
saint,  when  he  was  rough  and  raw,  drunken, 
swearing,  wild,  and  Hon-like.  Tell  me  how  God 
in  Christ  got  hold  of  him  and  won  the  children 
and  saved  us  all  and  made  these  eyes,  these 
inner  eyes  of  my  life,  see  Him  and  know  He  was 
my  Saviour.  Tell  me  how,  will  you  ?  I  do  not 
know  how,  but  I  know  He  did  it,  and  that  is 
enough  to  go  on  with.  Never  mind  the  how  of 
it.     It  must  be — must  be. 

Well  now,  let  me  stop  here  and  ask  this  ques- 
tion— Are  you  born  again  ?     Can  you  close  your 


Born  Again  57 

eyes  at  this  moment  and  say,  "  Yes,  I  know 
whom  I  have  beheved,  and  am  persuaded  that  He 
is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto 
Him  against  that  day  "  ?  Can  you  say,  "  For 
what  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak, 
God,  sending  His  own  Son  in  the  Hkeness  of 
sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the 
flesh,  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might  be 
fulfilled  in  me.  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life 
in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law 
of  sin  and  death  "  ?     Can  you  say  that  ? 

"  No  condemnation  now  I  dread, 

Jesus  and  all  in  Him  is  mine  ; 
Alive  in  Him  my  living  head 

Clothed  in  His  righteousness  divine. 
Bold  I  approach  th'  eternal  throne, 
And  claim  the  crown  through  Christ  my  own." 

Can  you  say  it  ?  Are  you  born  again  ?  What 
did  you  say — you  are  a  Church  member  ?  That 
is  no  substitute  for  the  new  birth.  What  did  you 
say — you  are  an  office-bearer  ?  Are  you  a  mas- 
ter of  Israel,  and  know  not  these  things  ?  Dare 
you  walk  about  God's  heritage,  with  unclean 
hands  handling  holy  things  ?  Dare  you  strut  in 
God's  house  with  a  filthy  heart  ?  O  God,  find  us 
out! 


^8  Born  Again 

Are  you  born  again?  What  did  you  say — ' 
you  are  a  Sunday-school  teacher?  You  would 
not  be  a  Sunday-school  teacher  in  my  Church  if 
I  were  a  minister  unless  I  had  evidence  that  you 
were  born  again.  I  would  refuse  to  let  any  class 
of  boys  and  girls  be  led  by  a  blind  leader.  You 
have  no  right  there  till  you  are  born  again. 

Are  you  born  again?  Have  you  got  the 
witness  within  ?  Lord  Jesus,  help  us  to  be 
honest!  Now  have  you  the  witness  of  the 
blessed  Spirit  that  speaks  within,  that  gives  the 
knowledge  the  head  cannot,  that  gives  the  assur- 
ance that  the  world  knows  nothing  about,  that 
makes  glad  and  warm  the  heart  and  bright  and 
cheerful  the  life,  that  gives  confidence  and  hope 
and  heaven  ?  Have  you  got  it  ?  Because  if  you 
are  born  again  you  have  got  it. 

Listen.  Here  are  some  of  the  new  birth 
marks :  **  He  that  is  born  of  God  loveth  the 
brethren."  Is  that  mark  on  you  ?  Here  is  an- 
other :  "He  that  is  born  of  God  abideth  in 
Him."  That  is  another  mark.  Is  that  on  you  ? 
Here  is  another :  "  He  that  is  born  of  God  over- 
cometh  the  world."  Is  that  mark  on  you? 
Here  is  another :  "  He  that  is  born  of  God  keep- 
eth  himself  in  the  love  of  God."     Is  that  mark 


Born  Again  jg 

on  you  ?  Here  is  another :  "  He  that  is  born 
of  God  hath  the  witness  in  himself." 

Now  you  may  go  to  church.  There  may  be 
movement — you  can  make  a  dead  body  move  if 
you  put  enough  batteries  underneath  it — but  if 
there  is  movement  and  you  are  not  born  again  it 
is  only  the  movement  of  a  galvanized  corpse. 
"  Ye  must  be  born  again."  Are  you  born  again  ? 
Are  you  sure  of  it  ?  Can  you  look  Him  in  the 
face  by  faith  and  say  — 

"  My  Jesus  to  know,  and  to  feel  His  blood  flow  — 
'Tis  life  everlasting,  'tis  heaven  below  "  ? 

Our  fathers  and  mothers  sang  that,  and  God  for- 
bid that  we  should  ever  outgrow  the  song.  Do 
you  know  it  ?  Have  you  the  witness  ?  because 
you  will  have  it  when  you  meet  the  conditions. 
Have  you  seen  a  mother  with  her  new  baby,  her 
first  baby  ?  One  of  the  most  beautiful  sights  in 
the  world  is  a  pure  mother  with  a  beautiful  baby. 
Her  heart  is  its  school,  its  nursery.  The  baby 
Hves  and  moves  and  has  its  being  in  her  love. 
In  the  day  she  watches  it,  in  the  night  she 
dreams  of  it.  It  is  first  and  last  thought  with 
her.  She  feeds  it,  she  fondles  it,  coaxes  it,  talks 
to  it,  tells  it  a  thousand  things  that  the  baby 


6o  Born  Again 

understands,  or  seems  to.  And,  loved  and 
petted  and  fondled,  in  a  few  months  baby, 
taught  and  loved  by  the  mother's  heart,  lisps, 
"  Dada."  Exactly ;  and  just  hke  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  comes  down  into  the  new-born,  new- 
surrendered,  new-believing,  obedient  heart  and 
coaxes  it  into  saying,  "  Abba,  Father,  my  Lord 
and  my  God."     This  is  the  new  birth. 

You  may  know  the  glorious  bliss,  you  may 
know  the  triumphant  victory,  you  may  have  the 
new  song  in  your  soul  now.  You  may  put  your 
foot  on  the  neck  of  your  foe  this  hour.  You 
my  stand  up  God's  man,  God's  woman,  free  for- 
ever, now,  if  you  will  meet  the  conditions.  God 
help  you  !  "  It  must  be."  Stop  your  arguing, 
stop  your  questioning;  that  is  the  old  way  of 
defeat  and  failure,  doubt  and  unbehef.  That  is 
the  devil's  way.  Listen  to  me.  Come  to  Jesus 
this  hour,  bow  before  Him  and  say  to  Him  in 
your  own  way,  "  Lord  Jesus,  whatever  there  is  in 
this  message  for  me,  help  me  to  receive  it." 
That  is  the  way.  Do  not  think  you  can  live  the 
new  life  with  the  old  heart.  It  cannot  be.  A 
new  life  means  a  new  heart,  and  you  will  get  it 
all  at  the  Cross. 


IV 

THE  SAVIOUR  OF  ALL 


"A  man  with  an  unclean  spirit." — Mark  $  :  2, 
"A   certain  woman,  which  had  an  issue  of  blood  twelve 
years." — Mark  ^  :  2^. 

"One  of  the  rulers  of  the  synagogue,  Jairus  ...  be- 
sought Him,  saying,  My  little  daughter  lieth  at  the  point  of 
death." — Mark  ^  :  22^  3j, 


IV 

THE  SAVIOUR  OF  ALL 

I  WANT  to  Speak  about  the  three  hopeless  cases 
in  the  fifth  chapter  of  Mark's  Gospel.  It  is  a 
chapter  of  incurables,  if  we  speak  after  the  man- 
ner of  men.  The  first  is  the  man  possessed  by 
the  devil.  We  are  told  he  had  his  dwelhng 
among  the  tombs.  No  man  could  bind  him  ; 
that  he  had  often  been  bound  with  fetters  and 
chains  but  had  shaken  them  off  like  cobwebs ; 
that  he  was  in  the  tombs  and  mountains  night 
and  day  crying  out  in  his  misery,  cutting  himself 
with  stones  in  his  agony  ;  that  he  was  a  terror  to 
the  neighbourhood,  wounded,  naked,  stripped, 
ostracized,  alienated,  lonely,  suffering,  sad,  pos- 
sessed by  the  devil.  And  this  is  but  a  sample 
case  of  what  the  devil  would  do  with  every  man 
if  he  had  his  way.  This  is  a  photograph,  a  full- 
length  photograph,  taken  by  God's  camera  in  all 
its  ugly  detail,  in  all  its  mass  of  misery  of  what 
the  devil  would  do  with  you  and  with  me  but  for 
the  hand  that  keeps  him  back.     For  the  devil  is 

63 


64  The  Saviour  of  All 

like  God  in  this,  he  is  no  respecter  of  persons. 
When  you  see  a  poor  creature  in  the  gutter,  vile 
of  lip,  bloody  of  cheek,  blear-eyed,  lost  in  mind, 
heart,  body,  soul,  you  can  say  to  yourself,  "  I 
would  be  there  but  for  grace."  The  devil  de- 
lights in  ruin,  discord,  destruction ;  and  I  verily 
believe  he  is  devil  enough,  if  he  had  his  own  way, 
to  put  his  foot  on  London,  strangle  it,  and  then 
chuckle  like  the  fiend  he  is  over  the  havoc  he  has 
wrought.  Oh,  there  is  a  devil  to  fight.  Some 
people  say  there  is  no  devil.  There  is  a  good 
deal  that  is  like  one,  and  you  cannot  travel  very 
far  without  seeing  a  good  deal  of  devilishness. 
And  if  you  say  there  is  no  devil  you  must  for- 
give me  if  I  tell  you  it  is  because  you  never 
tried  to  do  right.  It  is  easy  to  swim  with  the 
stream.  A  dead  fish  can  do  that.  It  takes  a 
living  fish  to  go  against  the  stream.  When  a 
man  is  asleep  in  stupor  you  may  put  chains 
about  him  and  he  is  insensible,  he  does  not 
know.  But  he  does  know  when  he  wakes  up ; 
and  if  to-night  you  make  up  your  mind  that, 
God  helping  you,  you  will  hate  the  wrong  and 
turn  your  back  on  it,  and  set  your  face  Godward 
and  heavenward  to  do  right,  you  will  be  con- 
vinced there  is  a  devil  before  the  morning. 


The  Saviour  of  All  65 

There  is  a  devil,  and  he  means  your  ruin. 
But,  blessed  be  God,  Jesus  is  not  only  God's 
Lamb  slain,  He  is  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah, 
and  He  lives  to  destroy  the  power  of  the  devil. 

In  this  first  case  the  man  whom  friends  and 
neighbours  could  not  tame,  the  man  that  no 
power  on  earth  had  managed  to  grip  and  hold  in, 
Jesus  the  Saviour  in  a  moment  transformed, 
turned  his  hell  into  heaven,  his  darkness  to  light, 
and  made  him  a  son  of  God,  an  heir  of  heaven. 

And  Jesus  is  still  that — Lord  over  devils ;  and 
if  the  devil  is  in.  you  Jesus  can  cast  him  out. 
Whatever  devil  possesses  you,  whatever  of  de- 
structiveness,  ruin  and  evil  is  in  you,  whatever  of 
night  and  despair,  chains  and  darKness  are  upon 
you,  whatever  devil  has  got  hold  of  you  and  rules 
you  and  is  destroying  you,  whatever  that  devil  is, 
Jesus  Christ  will  conquer  if  you  will  but  give 
Him  a  chance,  for  He  is  still  the  wonder-work- 
ing Jesus. 

The  second  case  is  one  of  disease ;  and  mark 
you,  this  case  was  as  bad  as  could  be.  She  had 
suffered  for  twelve  years  with  a  shamefaced  dis- 
ease, and  nobody  could  help  her.  All  the  med- 
ical men  around  had  tried,  and  they  were  not  all 
frauds.    There  were  those  who  would  have  healed 


66  The  Saviour  of  All 

if  they  could.  They  would  have  made  a  reputa- 
tion if  they  could  have  diagnosed  her  case,  if 
they  could  have  arrested  and  healed.  But  they 
failed.  Their  fingers  were  not  long  enough, 
they  could  not  reach  the  mischief,  they  did  not 
understand  it,  it  was  beyond  them.  Their  sym- 
pathies might  be  ever  so  great,  but  they  were 
baffled.  She  suffered  many  things  of  many  phy- 
sicians. She  tried  them  all,  and  when  her  hopes 
rose  a  little  with  some  expectation  of  relief  it  was 
only  to  fall  back  again  into  a  deeper  disappoint- 
ment, a  greater  mental  suffering.  But  on  the 
heels  of  everybody  else's  failure  Jesus  proves 
Himself  Lord  over  disease.  And  Jesus  is  still 
that.  Some  day  there  will  be  no  disease ;  some 
day  there  will  be  no  raging  epidemic  ;  some  day 
there  will  be  no  fever ;  some  day  there  will  be 
perfect  health,  robust,  round,  full-orbed,  strong 
health.  We  shall  be  like  Him — and  He  is  healthy 
enough — for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.  And  in 
proportion  as  we  get  like  Him  here  disease  will 
disappear,  for  Jesus  Christ  came  to  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil.  If  there  had  been  no  sin 
there  would  have  been  no  disease.  There  would 
have  been  no  suffering  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
breaking  of  the  law.     You  may  give  me  those 


The  Saviour  of  All  67 

three  letters  and  I  will  spell  all  the  misery  and 
suffering,  all  the  pain  and  agony,  every  woe  and 
pang  and  heartache — S-i-n.  And  you  cannot 
say  "  sin  "  without  hearing  the  hiss  of  the  serpent. 
Take  sin  up  into  the  fields  of  glory,  let  it  climb 
the  streets  of  light,  let  it  take  up  its  abode  in 
God's  fair  fields  of  health  where  the  flowers  never 
fade  and  where  the  sun  always  shines,  let  sin  take 
its  roots  in  the  glory,  and  you  will  have  to  build 
a  graveyard,  for  "  the  wages  of  sin  is  death."  Sin 
makes  you  pinched  in  face,  sin  makes  the  eye  re- 
cede, sin  makes  the  step  infirm  and  faltering,  it 
makes  the  hand  nerveless  and  unsteady,  clouds 
the  brow,  dims  the  eye,  and  weakens  the  heart. 
Sin  is  the  greatest  heart  disease  the  world  ever 
knew.  Sin  darkens  the  morning  and  clouds  the 
evening.  Sin — the  Lord  help  us  to  see  it  as  He 
sees  it !  But,  blessed  be  God,  one  interview  with 
Jesus  cured  this  woman's  ills ;  one  Hving,  vital 
moment  of  contact  with  Him  ended  her  trouble. 
And  Jesus  is  still  Lord  of  disease. 

That  is  not  all.  You  can  do  something  with 
the  man  if  the  devil  is  in  him,  for  if  a  man  is 
filled  with  the  devil  there  are  moments  in  his  life 
when  you  can  reach  him,  there  are  moments  in 
the  worst  man's  life  when,  if  you  know  how  to 


68  The  Saviour  of  All 

take  him,  you  will  arrest  him.  For  there  is,  if 
you  dig  deep  enough,  in  every  man  the  bed- 
rock, built  by  the  fingers  that  built  the  eternities, 
and  it  is  our  business  to  find  it.  There  is  in 
every  man  the  spark  that  will  blaze  when  suns 
faint  and  go  out  like  sparks  fi-om  a  blacksmith's 
anvil.     Every  man  is  therefore  worth  saving. 

You  can  do  something  with  the  poor,  weakly, 
suffering  body  of  a  woman  while  she  is  aHve,  for 
the  doctors  will  tell  you  that  while  there  is  life 
there  is  hope,  but  what  are  you  going  to  do  with 
a  dead  body  ? — and  the  third  case  is  death.  The 
woman  had  suffered  twelve  years,  how  long  the 
devil  had  been  in  that  man  I  do  not  know,  but 
the  httle  child  was  twelve  years  old,  and  she  was 
dead.  Ay,  but  Jesus  is  never  conquered ;  He  is 
always  the  conqueror.  He  is  always  equal  to 
every  emergency.  You  never  knew  Him  de- 
feated ;  and  if  you  want  to  see  Him  at  His  best 
you  want  to  see  Him  with  a  difficult  case.  And 
He  went  up  to  that  little  child  and  got  hold  of 
her  hand.  And  He  looked  her  in  the  face  and 
He  said,  "  Damsel,  arise."  If  He  had  said 
*'  Arise,"  without  saying  "  Damsel,"  there  would 
have  been  a  general  resurrection ;  they  would 
have  all  come  to  see  which  one  He  meant.     But 


The  Saviour  of  All  69 

that  eye  of  His  which  is  the  Hght  of  the  world 
went  into  the  gloom  beyond  and  singled  out  that 
little  spirit  and  said,  "  Damsel,  arise."  And  she 
sat  up,  and  He  said  to  her  mother,  "  Give  her 
something  to  eat."  So  that  in  the  third  case  He 
proved  Himself  Lord  of  death.  In  that  one 
chapter  of  forty-three  verses  you  have  got  all  you 
need — Lord  over  disease,  devils,  and  death,  the 
all-conquering  Christ,  gospel  enough  to  save  the 
world. 

That  is  the  programme  of  redemption.  Let 
me  turn  it  round  once  more.  The  man,  the 
woman,  the  child — what  does  it  mean  ?  This — 
Jesus  is  the  man's  Saviour ;  that  is  what  it  means. 
There  is  not  a  man  that  can  do  without  Him. 
There  is  not  a  man  that  does  without  Him.  You 
may  think  you  do,  but  no  man  lives  without 
Jesus.  You  may  not  acknowledge  Him,  indeed 
you  may  deny  Him,  but  He  is  there,  nearer  than 
the  seat  you  are  sitting  on,  nearer  than  the 
clothes  you  wear,  nearer  than  the  food  you  eat, 
•  nearer  than  the  child  you  love  and  about  whom 
you  put  your  arms,  nearer  than  the  friend  on 
whose  arm  you  lean.  You  may  deny,  but  He  is 
there ;  you  drink  from  His  fountain,  you  feed 
from  His  table,  you  walk  about  His  world,  every 


yo  The  Saviour  of  All 

bit  of  which  is  marked  by  His  own  cross.  You 
cannot  do  without  Him,  and  you  do  not  do  with- 
out Him.  If  you  think  you  can,  will  you  prove 
it  by  creating  a  planet  and  then  go  and  live  on 
it?  Don't  talk  about  doing  without  Him  while 
you  depend  on  Him  for  every  breath  you  draw. 
He  is  the  man's  Christ,  and,  brother,  no  man  is 
at  his  best  till  he  is  Christ's.  No  man  can  be,  no 
man  can  do,  what  God  means  him  to  be  and  to 
do  till  he  is  Christ's  man.  And  it  is  not  a 
childish  thing  to  be  a  Christian.  It  is  a  manly 
thing,  it  is  a  noble  thing ;  it  is  not  a  weak  thing 
— if  you  think  it  is,  try  it.  If  you  think  it  is  a 
weak  thing  to  be  a  Christian,  make  up  your 
mind  to  be  one  and  go  and  tell  them  where  you 
work  to-morrow  that  you  have  given  your  heart 
to  God,  and  you  will  see  it  takes  courage  and 
moral  force,  backbone  and  will-power,  and  in- 
telligence. Cotton  wool  won't  do  it,  jellyfish 
won't  do  it ;  cowards  won't  do  it ;  it  will  take  a 
man  to  do  it.  You  try  it.  You  think  it  is  a  sen- 
timental thing  to  be  a  Christian.  Try  it.  Re- 
ligion is  all  right  for  Sunday-schools,  mothers' 
meetings,  and  parsons,  some  of  you  think.  It  is 
a  manly  thing,  it  is  a  noble  thing,  it  is  a  brave 
thing  to  be  a  Christian.     Don't  forget  it,  Christ 


The  Saviour  of  All  71 

is  a  man's  Saviour.  The  strange  and  wonderful 
thing  to  me  is  that  it  does  not  matter  who  the 
man  is  or  where  he  comes  from,  what  his 
nationality,  what  his  education,  birth  or  breed- 
ing, what  his  culture,  or  what  his  outlook  may 
be,  the  moment  he  looks  into  the  face  of  Jesus 
he  says,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God."  Every  man 
sees  in  Him  all  he  needs.  When  he  does  see 
Him,  whether  he  be  a  gipsy  in  his  tent  or  a 
prime  minister,  whether  he  be  a  collier  or  a  king, 
it  does  not  matter,  the  man  that  looks  into  the 
face  of  Jesus  has  found  the  spring  that  never 
runs  dry,  and  he  can  say  with  that  illustrious 
saint  — 

«  Thou,  O  Christ,  art  all  I  want, 
More  than  all  in  Thee  I  find." 

He  is  the  man's  Saviour,  and  the  wickedest 
thing  in  the  world,  men,  is  to  know  that  and  to 
refuse  to  serve  Him.  That  is  the  sin  that  damns. 
You  need  not  get  drunk,  you  need  not  let  loose 
your  passions,  you  need  not  be  a  sower  of  un- 
cleanness.  You  can  be  a  respectable,  church- 
going,  well-dressed,  moral  sort  of  man,  and  re- 
fuse the  claims  of  the  Son  of  God,  refuse  to  allow 
Him  the  right  of  way  within  and  without  of  your 


72  The  Saviour  of  All 

life,  refuse  to  give  Him  the  right  place,  refuse  to 
fall  down  and  worship  Him  and  enthrone  Him 
within  you.  That  is  the  sin  which  damns — the 
sin  that  sets  Him  at  nought,  the  sin  that  refuses 
to  love  and  to  obey.  O  man,  father,  brother, 
young  man,  I  covet  your  manhood  for  Christ. 
He  is  worthy  of  your  best  thought,  your  purest 
thought,  your  noblest  thought,  your  most  brilliant 
thought,  your  most  lofty  conception,  your  glad- 
dest day,  your  strongest  heart-throb,  your  most 
manly  moment.  Give  Him  the  alabaster  box  of 
precious  ointment.  All  He  has  given  you,  re- 
turn it  to  Him  in  love  and  gratitude  and  con- 
secration, I  beseech  you,  for  He  is  the  man's 
Saviour. 

Ay,  but  that  is  not  all ;  He  is  the  woman's 
Christ  too.  Jesus  has  not  forgotten  the  women. 
Some  of  you  men  say  that  religion  will  do  for 
women.  Thank  God,  it  will ;  and  it  is  a  blessing 
some  of  them  have  got  a  bit  of  religion.  They 
do  not  get  much  comfort  from  the  man  they 
have  to  call  husband.  It  is  a  blessing  some 
women  have  got  Jesus  to  look  to,  or  I  do  not 
think  they  could  live  at  all.  Have  you  forgotten 
that  you  promised  God  at  His  altar  to  take  care 
of  her   you   call    wife?   how   you   promised   to 


The  Saviour  of  All  73 

shield  her,  to  love  and  honour  ?  Have  you  for- 
gotten that  you  promised  God  in  the  most  public, 
solemn  manner  before  His  altar  and'  the  record- 
ing angel  that  you  would  forsake  everything  for 
that  woman  ?  Have  you  forgotten  it  ?  because 
God  will  make  you  remember  it  some  day. 
God  has  not  forgotten  it.  She  is  nearly  dead. 
Do  you  know  it,  O  man?  Listen.  There  is 
another  way  of  murdering  a  woman  beside  blow- 
ing her  brains  out  or  cutting  her  throat.  Poor 
woman,  suffering  woman,  weeping  woman,  your 
hair  gray  long  before  it  ought  to  be,  your  face 
pinched  and  your  back  bent,  and  you  do  not 
know  what  it  is  to  have  a  moment's  peace,  and  in 
your  sleep  you  dream  of  misery,  full  of  tears  and 
disappointments  and  agonies — Jesus  knows,  my 
sister.  God  help  you  to  make  Him  your  friend  ! 
He  knows.  He  knows.  When  sometimes  you 
smile — and  you  are  forced  to  smile  because  others 
are  there — when  you  have  got  sorrow  enough 
behind,  storm  enough  behind  that  smile  to 
wreck  a  navy,  He  knows.  He  is  the  woman's 
Christ.  If  you  will  let  Him,  He  will  kiss  your 
tears  into  jewels.  The  sun  of  His  love  will  light 
up  your  face  once  more,  and  if  the  wrinkles  do 
not  go  He  will  make  them  beautiful,  and  if  your 


74  The  Saviour  of  All 

back  does  not  straighten  He  will  give  you  grace 
to  bear  the  burden  and  the  flowers  of  paradise 
shall  bloom  again  in  your  poor,  wasted  life,  for 
the  "  wilderness  shall  blossom,  it  shall  blossom 
abundantly."  Ay,  He  is  the  woman's  Saviour. 
I  do  not  know  how  any  woman  can  turn  her 
back  on  Jesus  or  keep  Him  out  of  her  life.  It  is 
a  sad  thing  when  a  woman  says  "  No  "  to  Christ, 
but  when  she  is  the  cause  of  her  children  saying 
"  No  "  it  is  sadder  still.  O  mothers,  O  sisters, 
for  Christ's  sake  and  for  your  children's  sake 
and  for  your  husbands'  sake  open  your  heart  to 
Jesus  !  Let  Him  take  the  throne-place  in  your 
heart.  Nobody  will  be  as  true  as  He,  nobody 
will  stand  by  you  as  He  will.  You  can  tell  Him 
what  you  cannot  tell  anybody  else.  You  love 
Him,  you  serve  Him,  you  follow  Him,  and 
though  others  sneer  and  frown  and  treat  you 
coolly  and  despise  and  call  you  a  sinner.  He  will 
say,  "  Woman,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee."  He 
is  the  woman's  Christ. 

But  that  is  not  all.  If  I  stopped  there  it  would 
not  be  complete.  He  is  the  baby's  Saviour, 
He  is  the  child's  Christ,  He  is  the  cradle  Christ. 
And  if  you  want  to  beat  the  devil  you  must 
fight  him  with  the  cradle.     Oh,  that  every  mother 


The  Saviour  of  All  75 

would  bring  her  babies  to  Jesus  !  "  But,"  you 
say,  "  they  are  so  little."  Yes,  but  He  is  the 
God  of  little  things.  He  painted  the  rainbow — 
yes,  but  He  kissed  the  daisy  into  being  too.  He 
put  the  wings  on  the  archangel,  but  He  feathered 
the  sparrow.  The  mighty  ocean — yes,  but  He 
makes  that  out  of  the  same  material  that  He 
makes  the  dewdrop.  He  is  the  God  of  little 
things.  Don't  despise  the  children.  I  would 
that  I  could  take  the  dear  little  hearts  and  twist 
them  into  a  garland  of  beauty  and  in  all  their 
innocence  place  their  young  affections  on  the 
head  of  my  Lord.  "  Suffer  little  children  to 
come  unto  Me."  Jesus  has  not  forgotten  them. 
God  save  the  children !  Don't  hinder  them, 
don't  stop  them,  don't  get  into  the  way  of  them ; 
let  them  come. 

He  is  the  man's  Christ.  Brother,  is  He  your 
Christ  ?  He  wants  to  be,  He  will  be  if  you  will 
take  Him,  He  will  be  if  you  will  follow  Him,  He 
will  be  if  you  will  come  out  from  what  He  hates, 
forsake  that  which  grieves  Him,  that  which 
killed  Him.  Forsake  it,  follow  Him,  and  you 
will  find  that  Jesus  Christ  can  do  for  a  man 
what  you  never  dreamed  He  could. 

Woman,  sister,  you  of  the  weary  life,  you  of 


76  The  Saviour  of  All 

the  disappointments,  you  of  the  sleepless  nights 
and  weary  days,  you  of  the  heart  faintness  and 
hunger,  Jesus  waits  to  come  into  your  life  and 
transform  it  into  a  thing  of  beauty.  Will  you 
let  Him? 

And  He  is  the  child's  Christ,  and  the  children 
understand  Him.  Don't  stop  the  children  from 
coming.  I  have  a  letter  in  my  possession  from  a 
high  Government  official  in  one  of  the  colonies 
of  South  Africa,  written  a  few  days  after  my 
mission  in  his  city,  in  which  he  says :  "  You 
will  be  sorry,  I  know,  and  will  sympathize  with 
us,  I  am  sure,  when  I  tell  you  that  our  sweet 
little  Winnie  has  gone  home."  Who  was  Win- 
nie ?  She  was  a  sweet  little  thing  of  ten.  She 
attended  our  mission,  and  as  intelligently  as  you 
could  she  gave  herself  to  Christ.  A  beautiful 
child,  she  came  with  her  mother  to  call  on  us, 
and  when  she  left  me  she  put  her  face  up  and 
kissed  me,  and  she  said,  "  Oh,  sir,  you  have 
helped  me,  you  have  helped  me."  And  if  I 
went  to  South  Africa  to  do  nothing  else  but  help 
that  little  girl,  it  was  worth  the  journey.  Just  a 
few  days  passed,  and  she  sickened  with  small- 
pox, and  all  that  skill  and  money  and  physician 
could  do  was  done  to  save  her,  but  it  was  no  use. 


The  Saviour  of  All  77 

When  her  mother  and  father  were  weeping  she 
said,  "  Don't  weep  ;  I  am  going  to  Jesus."  And 
then  as  they  watched  her  she  heard  the  angels 
calling,  and  she  said,  **  I  am  here ;  don't  you 
know  me  ?  I  am  Winnie,  I  am  one  of  Gipsy 
Smith's  little  converts,  and  I  am  quite  ready,  I 
am  quite  ready,  and  I  am  coming."  And  she 
went  to  be  with  Him  forever. 

He  is  the  children's  Saviour.  He  is  the 
woman's  Saviour.  He  is  the  man's  Saviour. 
The  Saviour  for  us  all.     Let  us  seek  Him. 


V 
THE  MASTER'S  TOUCH 


"And  Jesus,  immediately  knowing  in  Himself  that  virtue 
[strength,  life],  had  gone  out  of  Him,  turned  Him  about  in  the 
crowd  and  said,  Who  touched  My  clothes?  And  His  disciples 
said  unto  Him,  Thou  seest  the  multitude  thronging  Thee,  and 
sayest  Thou,  Who  touched  Me  ?  " — Mark  5  .•  jo,  31 


THE  MASTER'S  TOUCH 

In  my  last  address  I  tried  to  speak  to  you 
from  the  three  cases  given  in  the  fifth  chapter  of 
Mark's  Gospel,  and  I  tried  to  show  you  that  in 
this  chapter  of  incurables  Jesus  proved  Himself 
Lord  over  devils,  disease,  and  death.  And  then 
we  turned  the  jewel  round  and  caught  another 
flash  of  its  beauty,  and  we  saw  that  Jesus  is  the 
man's  Christ,  the  woman's  Christ,  and  the  child's 
Christ.  Now  I  want  to  speak  about  the  middle 
case,  this  woman  who  had  suffered  many  things 
of  many  physicians  and  was  nothing  bettered, 
but  rather  grew  worse.  So  Mark  says.  When 
Luke  tells  the  story  he  leaves  that  bit  about  the 
doctors  out,  but  then  he  was  a  doctor  himself. 
Mark  has  no  scruple;  and  he  says  practically 
that  all  her  attempts  at  healing,  though  they 
were  many,  and  though  they  were  the  best  she 
could  procure,  though  she  consulted  the  best 
skill,  the  wisest  of  the  physicians,  all  her  at- 
tempts only  aggravated,  tantalized,  excited  hopes 
8i 


82  The  Master's  Touch 

that  only  ended  in  despair,  and  she  was  worse 
when  they  finished  their  attempts  than  before 
they  started. 

And  that  woman  but  represents  multitudes. 
Perhaps  you  are  longing  for  spiritual  heahng,  for 
soul  satisfaction,  you  are  groping  for  light.  You 
are  trying  to  climb  up  out  of  the  slough  of  your 
despond ;  you  desire  to  get  your  chains  broken 
and  your  fetters  snapped.  You  say  you  want 
the  assurance  of  sins  forgiven,  to  be  in  possession 
of  peace  with  God.  You  believe  there  is  some- 
thing for  you  that  Christians  talk  about,  and 
that  the  Bible  describes  in  the  death  and  resur- 
rection of  the  Son  of  God,  somehow  in  a  vague 
fashion  believing  it  is  for  you,  but  never  getting 
it,  hunting  after  but  never  finding,  hungry  for 
and  yet  never  satisfied,  always  thirsty  and  never 
getting  a  drink  of  the  living  stream.  Oh,  how 
many  quacks  some  of  you  have  consulted,  how 
many  earthly  nostrums  you  have  been  prepared 
to  take,  how  many  spiritual  physicians  you  have 
listened  to !  And  some  of  you  spend  your  time 
in  hunting  up  religious  quacks. 

There  has  not  been  a  preacher  in  town  for 
twenty  years  that  you  have  not  heard.  You 
boast  that  there  has  not  been  a  mission  held  any- 


The  Master's  Touch  83 

where  within  reach  but  what  you  have  been 
there.  You  are  front-seaters,  bench-warmers, 
religious  tramps.  Don't  smile — I  want  you  to 
see  yourselves.  You  have  been  prepared  to 
listen  to  anybody,  any  fad,  any  big  person,  any 
sensational  story,  any  man-made  message,  any 
new  thing.  But  you  do  not  get  healing  that 
way.  You  have  not  got  healing  that  way ;  and 
if  I  could  see  you  through  God's  microscope,  the 
microscope  of  Calvary,  I  should  see  you  worse 
to-day  than  you  were  ten  years  ago,  with  all 
your  attempts  at  redemption.  With  all  your 
attempts  to  become  holy  and  righteous  you  are 
worse  to-day  than  ever  you  were.  And  you 
have  come  to  hear  this  preacher.  But  at  the 
beginning  let  me  be  plain  with  you.  I  cannot 
save  you.  That  is  beyond  me.  But  I  know 
One  who  can,  and  there  is  none  like  Him.  He 
is  the  only  Physician,  He  is  the  greatest  Physi- 
cian, He  is  the  most  wonderful  Physician,  He  is 
the  cure-all  when  He  has  charge  of  the  case. 
He  is  never  baffled.  He  can  diagnose  every  case. 
He  goes  to  the  root  of  the  mischief.  There  is  no 
mistake  with  Him.  He  never  makes  a  blunder. 
He  never  apologizes.  He  never  asks  to  be  ex- 
cused if  you  are  conscious  of  sin  and  long  for 


84  The  Master's  Touch 

healing.  Give  Him  the  right  of  way  with  your 
case,  and  He  will  make  a  cure,  complete,  eternal. 
But  He  must  have  His  way,  then  He  heals. 
And  all  the  poor,  broken-down  attempts  at 
social,  religious,  and  spiritual  reform  that  you 
have  seen,  and  all  the  backsliding,  and  the  falls, 
and  the  blunders  that  you  have  seen  around  you, 
have  all  come  about  because  Christ  has  not  had 
His  way.  Give  Christ  His  way,  and  He  will 
heal  completely. 

No,  my  friends,  your  cure  is  the  woman's. 
That  may  sound  an  old-fashioned  thing  to  say, 
but  there  is  more  truth  in  it  than  you  have 
realized  yet.  Listen.  The  woman's  cure  is 
your  cure.  Her  cure  came  on  the  heels  of 
everybody  else's  failure.  Christ's  cure  always 
comes  there.  When  people  get  to  the  end  of 
things,  then  Jesus  Christ  bares  His  arm  and 
shows  His  omnipotence,  and  declares  Himself 
the  mighty  Saviour.  He  is  a  wonderful  Jesus. 
Oh,  it  is  not  a  quack  you  want,  it  is  a  specialist. 
It  is  not  the  preacher  you  want,  it  is  not  the 
missioner,  it  is  not  the  lovely  influences  of  a 
mission,  it  is  not  the  beautiful  hymns  we  sing,  it 
is  not  seeing  some  great  talker,  some  orator, 
some    great   brilliant   speaker,   it   is    not   being 


The  Master's  Touch  85 

familiar  with  books  or  schools ;  it  is  Jesus — 
Jesus.  It  is  not  the  Bible,  for  "  the  letter 
killeth."  You  may  be  familiar  with  it,  you  may 
have  gone  through  it  I  do  not  know  how  many 
times,  but  till  it  goes  through  you  you  will  not 
be  any  better.  It  is  not  in  tramping  to  and 
from  church.  It  is  not  in  performance,  it  is 
not  in  ritual.  Heahng  is  in  the  presence  of 
Jesus. 

Soon  after  my  father's  conversion  our  tents 
were  just  outside  Cambridge.  My  father  could 
not  read  the  Bible  in  those  days,  he  was  only  a 
rough  gipsy  man,  but  he  was  saved,  and  he  did 
the  next  best  with  his  motherless  children  before 
he  went  to  bed,  he  used  to  sing  and  pray  every 
night.  And,  you  know,  when  he  and  five 
children  started  to  sing  you  could  hear  us  a  few 
fields  away,  and  those  dark,  winter  nights — I 
can  see  my  father  now — he  would  say,  *'  Before 
we  go  to  bed,  my  dears,  we  will  have  a  hymn  or 
two,"  and  he  would  strike  off.  We  had  no  idea 
that  the  people  in  the  cottages  across  the  fields 
heard  the  songs  and  came  a  little  nearer  to  catch 
the  words,  or  that  they  stopped  while  he  prayed. 
It  was  a  strange  thing  to  hear  a  gipsy  man  pray 
in   his   tent.     These   people  never  expected  it. 


86  The  Master's  Touch 

And  one  woman,  we  heard  afterwards,  was 
smitten  in  her  conscience  about  her  sin,  and 
she  said,  "  Here  is  a  rough  gipsy  man  praying, 
and  he  is  not  praying  for  me  to  hear  him,  for  he 
does  not  know  I  am  here ;  he  is  not  praying  for 
other  people  to  hear,  for  he  does  not  know  that 
anybody  can  hear  him.  Here  is  a  gipsy  man 
praying.  How  is  it  ?  I  was  brought  up  in  a 
Sunday-school,  my  mother  was  a  good  woman,  I 
came  from  a  Christian  home,  and  I  am  a  mother 
and  never  pray  for  my  children."  The  arrow  of 
conviction  pierced  her  soul,  and  she  went  home 
with  it  sticking  there,  and  it  did  not  come  out 
easily.  For  some  time  she  said  nothing  about 
it,  she  kept  quiet,  but  she  suffered  something  of 
the  agony  that  David  must  have  felt  when  he 
said,  "  While  I  kept  silence  my  bones  waxed 
old  .  .  .  for  day  and  night  Thy  hand  was 
heavy  upon  me.  My  moisture  is  turned  into 
the  drought  of  summer."  And  I  tell  you  when 
the  light  of  God's  hoHness  shines  into  a  guilty 
soul  it  blisters  it.  One  night  her  husband  came 
home  from  work,  and  he  saw  there  was  some- 
thing the  matter,  he  had  noticed  it  for  some 
days,  and  he  said,  "  Mary,  what  is  the  trouble  ?  " 
She  did  not  answer.     "  Mary,  are  you  ill  ?  "  and 


The  Master's  Touch  87 

still  she  kept  quiet.  "  Very  well,  I  knew  it  was 
so,  I  have  seen  a  change  in  you  for  some  days," 
he  said ;  "  I  will  fetch  the  doctor,"  and  away  he 
went.  As  soon  as  he  had  got  outside  the  door 
she  sent  her  boy  to  the  old  tent,  and  when  he 
got  to  the  tent  he  said  to  my  father,  "  Sir,  my 
mother  heard  you  pray  some  weeks  ago  and  she 
has  never  been  happy  since,  and  she  wants  to 
know  if  you  will  come  and  pray  with  her."  And 
father  said,  "  Of  course  I  will,"  and  away  he 
went,  and  when  he  got  there  he  found  the  poor 
woman  crying  for  mercy.  It  was  not  long  be- 
fore the  plan  of  salvation  had  been  pointed  out 
to  her  and  she  was  rejoicing  in  Christ.  She  had 
met  the  condition,  and  her  burden  had  rolled 
away.  Her  tears  had  become  telescopes  through 
which  she  could  see  Jesus.  Presently  the  doctor 
came  with  the  husband.  She  looked  up  at  the 
doctor  and  she  said,  "  Doctor,  I  have  found  Him, 
I  have  found  Him ! "  He  said,  "  My  good 
woman,  whom  have  you  found  ?  "  "  Oh,  sir," 
she  said,  "  my  poor  soul  has  been  hungry  for 
Jesus,  and  I  have  found  Him."  "  Well,"  said  the 
doctor,  "  you  don't  need  me,  for  you  have  the 
best  Physician  the  world  ever  saw." 

And  that  is  what  I  want  to  say  to  you :  it  is 


88  The  Master's  Touch 

not  this  poor  thing  you  want,  it  is  Jesus.  It  is 
not  these  ministers.  We  are  only  fingers  point- 
ing, we  are  only  voices  crying ;  but,  blessed  be 
God,  we  do  point  and  we  do  cry  and  we  tell  you 
in  one  concentrated,  consecrated  voice  at  this 
moment  — 

«'  Only  Jesus 
Can  do  helpless  sinners  good." 

Only  Jesus ;  and  all  the  efforts  of  your  own  will 
only  end  in  misery.  You  may  hear  preachers, 
you  may  say  prayers,  you  may  go  to  church, 
you  may  take  communion,  you  may  listen  to 
quacks,  you  may  hunt  up  religious  nostrums, 
you  may  read  books,  you  may  long  for  healing 
and  desire  peace,  and  wonder  when  it  is  coming 
to  you.  It  will  never  come  till  you  come  to 
Christ.  Five  minutes'  honest,  definite,  intelligent 
dealing  with  Jesus  Christ  w^ill  cure  your  mischief, 
and  nothing  else  will.  That  is  the  first  thing  I 
want  to  say. 

The  second  is  this,  that  there  is  a  tremendous 
difference  between  thronging  Jesus  and  touching 
Jesus.  There  were  six  hundred  thousand  people 
left  Egypt  for  the  promised  land  who  never 
reached  it.  Two  men  out  of  the  crowd  reached 
it.     They  were  touchers,  the  others  were  throng- 


The  Master's  Touch  89 

ers ;  the  others  bleached  their  bones  in  the  wil- 
derness. There  were  many  people  at  the  Pool 
of  Bethesda,  but  it  was  the  one  that  stepped  in 
first  after  the  troubling  of  the  water  that  was 
made  whole;  the  others  were  throngers.  Here 
is  a  multitude  of  people  at  this  very  moment 
crowding  Jesus,  speculating  about  Jesus,  excited 
about  Him,  criticising  Him,  elbowing  Him,  but 
one  woman  touched  Him,  and  that  made  all  the 
difference. 

Which  are  you  ?  Have  you  touched  Him,  or 
are  you  a  thronger  ?  Some  of  you  throng  Him 
on  Sundays,  you  throng  Him  in  the  Sunday- 
school  or  church.  And  you  throng  Him  at 
missions,  and  you  have  been  doing  it,  some  of 
you,  till  your  hairs  are  gray.  In  the  name  of 
God  I  tell  you — and  I  tell  you  to  startle  you,  I 
tell  you  to  awaken  you — in  God's  name  I  tell 
you,  church-goer,  you  are  a  thronger ;  you  have 
never  touched  Him  yet,  multitudes  of  you.  If 
you  had,  your  Hfe  would  be  different,  for  what- 
ever Jesus  touches  is  glorified. 

Which  are  you  now?  You  know  deep  in 
your  heart.  Don't  make  any  excuse,  don't 
shuffle ;  don't,  I  beseech  you,  get  away  from 
the   main    issue.     Have   you   come  into  living, 


90  The  Master's  Touch 

vital,  saving  contact  with  the  Son  of  God  ?  Be- 
cause you  will  know  if  you  have.  I  don't  believe 
that  doctrine  which  says  you  can  be  a  Chris- 
tian without  knowing  it.  I  believe  that  is  a  sop 
from  hell  to  soothe  your  conscience  into  saying 
"  Peace  "  where  there  is  no  peace.  You  cannot 
be  awake  without  knowing  it;  you  cannot  eat 
your  dinner  without  knowing  it ;  you  cannot  go 
to  church  without  knowing  it;  and  you  must 
not  tell  me  that  a  man  can  be  born  again  and 
made  a  new  creature,  have  his  chains  broken,  his 
night  turned  into  day  and  his  bHndness  to  sight, 
his  hell  into  heaven,  and  not  know  it.  Listen. 
This  woman  knew,  so  will  you  when  you  have 
touched  Him.  This  is  one  of  the  surest  things 
in  God's  world,  for  a  man  that  can  look  up  into 
the  face  of  Jesus,  and  say  by  faith,  "  Thou  art  my 
Saviour,"  has  got  in  his  soul  the  joy  that  will 
some  day  make  heaven  pulsate  with  hallelujahs  ; 
the  man  that  could  look  up  into  the  face  of  Jesus 
and  say,  "  Thou  art  my  light  and  my  song,  my 
sins  are  put  away,  my  chains  are  broken,  my 
Lord  and  my  God,"  is  sitting  in  the  twiHght  of 
the  coming  glory.  If  he  is  not  in  heaven,  he  is 
in  the  ante-room,  and  he  is  as  safe  as  though  he 
had  been   there   a  thousand  years.     For  when 


The  Master's  Touch  91 

God  gets  hold  of  a  man  He  does  not  let  go  His 
grip.    The  Lord  God  Almighty  take  hold  of  you  ! 

Have  you  touched  Him  ?  Do  you  know  this  ? 
I  am  not  asking  what  else  you  know — are  you 
sure  about  this  thing  ?  Blessed  assurance  !  Re- 
ligious certainty  is  the  certainty  of  religion.  It 
is  the  ground,  the  bed-rock,  the  indestructible 
rock  beneath  a  man's  feet  upon  which  he  can 
stand  and  say  to  the  world,  "  Rage  on,  toss  on, 
howl  on,  ye  storms,  and  peal,  ye  thunders,  and 
flash,  ye  lightnings,  and  break  up,  O  ribs  of 
nature,  but  it  will  be  but  the  rocking  of  an  in- 
fant's cradle  as  it  lulls  me  to  rest  in  the  arms  of 
Him  who  saves  me,  and  keeps  me  by  His  grace." 
Have  you  got  it?  "Blessed  assurance,  Jesus  is 
mine  !  "  Do  you  know  it?  Are  you  sure  of  it  ? 
Because  that  is  what  He  calls  you  to. 

You  say,  "Are  you  not  forcing  something 
that  is  not  in  the  story  ? "  No,  it  is  all  here. 
The  woman  came  in  the  crowd  behind,  and  I 
can  hear  her  as  she  comes  limping,  stooping, 
catching  her  breath,  hardly  voice  enough  to 
speak  out  loud,  saying  in  a  whisper,  but  saying 
it,  "  If  I  can  only  touch  the  hem  of  His  garment 
I  shall  be  healed  "  ;  as  much  as  to  say,  "  There  is 
power  enough  in  the  threads  of  His  coat  to  save 


92  The  Master's  Touch 

an  old  woman."  That  is  the  faith  that  con- 
quered Deity.  "  Only  let  me  get  to  Him,  and  I 
shall  be  a  new  woman."  Listen.  She  knew  she 
was  not  healed,  yet  she  says,  "  I  shall  be,"  and 
she  touched,  and  what  followed  ?  She  was  made 
whole.  The  next  verse  says,  '<  And  Jesus,  know- 
ing in  Himself  that  power  had  gone  out  of  Him, 
turned  in  the  crowd."  What  does  that  teach  ? 
This,  my  brother,  this  old-fashioned,  despised 
doctrine,  but  it  is  going  to  have  a  resurrection  in 
all  the  churches  in  England,  this — His  Spirit 
answers  to  my  spirit,  and  tells  me  I  am  born  of 
God.  That  is  the  doctrine.  It  is  no  new  story. 
Jesus  knew,  and  the  woman  knew  ;  and  Jesus  will 
know  and  you  will  know,  when  you  plough  your 
way  through  the  crowd — whatever  the  crowd 
may  be  for  you — and  insist  on  touching  Him. 

Have  you  touched  Him  ?  I  know  you  are  a 
member  of  the  Church,  but  have  you  touched 
Jesus  ?  I  know  you  are  a  professor,  but  are  you 
a  possessor  ?     Can  you  say  — 

"  Life  immortal,  heaven  descending, 
Lo,  my  heart  the  Spirit's  shrine, 
God  and  man  in  oneness  blending, 
Oh  !  what  fellowship  divine  ! 
Full  salvation, 
Raised  in  Christ  to  life  divine." 


The  Master's  Touch  93 

■  Amazing  grace,  'tis  heaven  below 

To  feel  the  blood  applied, 
And  Jesus,  only  Jesus,  knows, 

My  Jesus  crucified  "  ? 


Is  that  your  experience  ? — for  that  is  what  He 
calls  you  to,  to  put  your  feet  on  the  neck  of 
your  foe,  and  to  bound  with  gladness.  Have 
you  touched  Him  ?  If  not,  get  a  little  closer 
now. 

And  if  you  have  touched  Him,  that  leads  me 
to  the  next  thing.  If  you  have  touched  Him 
you  must  confess  Him.  There  is  no  such  thing 
as  getting  healed  and  then  being  ashamed  of  the 
doctor.  The  man  who  is  ashamed  of  the  doctor 
is  not  worth  healing.  But  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  being  a  smuggler  here ;  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  playing  hide-and-seek  here.  You  must  con- 
fess Him  ;  He  will  see  to  that.  If  you  are  to 
get  all  He  wants  you  to  have.  He  will  see  you 
meet  the  conditions.  She  began  in  the  crowd 
behind,  she  ended  up  on  her  knees  in  front  of 
Him,  where  all  grateful  souls  end.  He  said, 
"Where  is  she  that  touched  Me?"  and  He 
looked  round  about  to  see  her  that  had  done 
this  thing;  and  mark,  He  turned  round,  and 
when   He  turned  round  she  was  there.     Don't 


94  The  Master's  Touch 

you  see,  it  was  not  as  difficult  as  she  thought. 
She  thought  she  would  get  at  His  back ;  He 
gave  her  His  face,  and  she  knelt  at  His  feet, 
and  they  made  a  ring  there  on  the  highway, 
and  that  was  the  inquiry-room,  and  she  told 
Him  all  the  truth.  Nobody  hindered  her,  no- 
body checked  her.  She  poured  out  her  heart 
and  her  tears,  and  she  told  Him  everything. 
He  listened  patiently,  and  when  she  had  finished, 
and  when  she  had  told  all,  and  He  knew  she  had 
told  the  whole.  He  said,  "  Daughter,  thy  faith 
hath  saved  thee ;  go  in  peace." 

If  you  want  to  have  peace  as  an  accompani- 
ment, peace  as  a  friend  and  companion,  peace 
as  the  bloom  and  blossom  of  things,  the  music 
ineffable  sounding  forth  in  the  hfe,  let  Jesus 
Christ  come  in  and  take  the  throne,  and  you 
will  get  peace. 

Men  and  women,  come  out  of  your  hiding. 
Never  mind  the  crowd;  Christ  is  here,  and 
you  can  touch  Him  if  you  will.  You  can  get 
where  there  is  always  room  for  another  in  His 
presence,  at  His  feet.  He  will  make  room  if  no- 
body else  does.  He  will  see  that  you  get  a  place 
right  in  front  of  Him,  if  you  only  make  up  your 
mind  to  struggle. 


The  Master's  Touch  95 

"  But,"  you  say,  ''  what  can  I  do  ?  "  What 
could  she  do  ?  She  would  not  have  been  healed, 
she  was  not  healed,  without  an  effort,  and  you 
will  never  be  saved  without  an  effort.  She 
seized  her  opportunity.  Will  you?  Here  was 
the  Christ  passing  by.  She  made  Him  see  her. 
She  had  only  to  touch  the  hem  of  His  garment, 
but  there  was  more  in  that  touch  than  you  think. 
The  Lord  help  you  to  touch  Him  the  same  way, 
and  you  too  will  be  made  whole.  Your  night 
will  break  into  lovely  dawn,  your  misery  into 
music,  your  tears  will  be  kissed  into  jewels,  your 
heartache  into  soul  rapture,  your  Hfelong  agony 
will  end  in  the  joy  of  the  presence  of  the  risen 
Christ. 

Oh,  touch  Him  !  Do  not  throng  Him  longer. 
It  ends  all  one  way — it  spells  failure,  it  spells 
loss,  it  spells  agony.  But  touching  means  life. 
Oh,  how  I  thank  God  I  have  touched  Him  ! 
I  do  not  know  as  much  as  some  of  you,  but  I 
know  this,  I  had  not  your  chance,  your  oppor- 
tunities, but  I  got  this  one — I  let  nobody  cheat 
me  out  of  this — and  I  shall  never  forget  how  I 
knelt  as  a  gipsy  boy  and  said,  "  O  God,  I  want 
to  love  Thee,  I  want  to  be  saved,  I  want  to  be 
good,   and   I   will   be   saved,  and  I  will  follow 


96  The  Master's  Touch 

Thee."  I  do  not  know  how,  but  I  touched 
Him  at  that  moment,  and  He  accepted,  and  He 
touched  me. 

God  help  you  to  touch  Him  in  the  same  way, 
and  the  grace  that  turned  the  gipsy-tent  into  a 
palace  will  change  your  life  from  the  poor  miser- 
able thing  it  has  been  into  a  thing  of  beauty  and 
praise  forever. 


VI 

SLAY  UTTERLY 


«  Behold,  to  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than 
the  fat  of  rams." — /  Sam,  /j,  from  ver.  /j. 


VI 

SLAY  UTTERLY 

I  TAKE  those  words  as  a  starting-point.  What 
I  wish  to  say  is  more  in  the  form  of  an  exposi- 
tion of  the  whole  of  the  verses  which  I  read  just 
now  for  the  lesson.  You  who  are  familiar  with 
this  story  will  remember  that  for  a  long  time  the 
Amalekites  had  been  a  source  of  trouble  and 
bloodshed  to  the  children  of  Israel.  God's 
patience  had  borne  long  not  only  with  Israel 
but  with  their  tormentors,  and  God  decreed  that 
these  sinners,  the  Amalekites,  should  be  punished. 
At  this  point  their  sin  was  very  aggravated,  the 
measure  of  their  iniquity  was  running  over,  and 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  through  the  prophet 
to  the  king  that  these  sinners  were  to  be  punished, 
wiped  out,  and  Saul  and  his  army  were  to  be  the 
instruments  of  judgment  for  the  punishment  of 
these  rebels.  For  there  is  a  limit  to  God's  mercy. 
The  man  who  sets  out  to  fight  Him  will  lose. 
The  man  who  makes  up  his  mind  to  defy  God  to 
the  utmost  will  find  he  swears  by  a  cause  that 
will  end  in  failure. 

99 


100  Slay  Utterly 

Saul  marshalled  his  army  of  210,000  men  to 
slay  a  nation.  The  battle  is  over.  We  have  not 
time  to  speak  of  that.  Again  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came  to  the  prophet,  and  this  time  it  is 
changed.  You  listen  to  it,  put  your  ear  close  to 
it,  and  you  will  hear  pathos  indescribable.  You 
will  hear  the  falling  of  tears  ;  you  will  see  a 
shower  of  blood.  Through  these  words  there 
seems  to  rumble  the  woe  of  a  broken  heart. 
Listen.  "  Saul  is  turned  back  from  following 
Me.  He  hath  not  performed  My  command- 
ments. He  has  turned  his  back  on  Me,  the  man 
I  honoured,  the  man  I  Hfted  up,  the  man  I  ex- 
alted, the  man  I  crowned  with  possibilities  stupen- 
dous, the  man  I  chose  from  out  from  among  his 
brethren,  the  man  in  whom  I  invested  so  much, 
and  from  whom  I  expected  so  much,  the  man 
who  might  have  done  so  much  as  My  represent- 
ative. Saul — he  is  turned  back  from  following 
Me.  He  hath  not  performed  My  command- 
ments." I  tell  you  these  words  seem  to  glisten 
with  the  tears  of  a  disappointed  God.  "  He  has 
turned  back."  If  God  were  going  to  write  a 
Httle  bit  about  you  and  me,  I  wonder  what  He 
would  say.  He  did  speak  out  about  this  man. 
If  He  were  to  speak  out  about  the  preacher,  I 


Slay  Utterly  loi 

wonder  what  He  would  say.  If  God  were  to 
write  on  my  forehead,  not  what  you  think  I  am, 
not  what  I  seem  to  be,  but  as  I  am  with  Him,  I 
wonder  how  many  of  you  would  listen  to  me ; 
and  yet  my  Lord  knows  me.  I  wonder  if  God 
were  to  speak  out  about  these  preachers  what 
He  would  say — these  singers,  these  office-bearers, 
these  Sunday-school  teachers.  You  who  take 
communion  and  parade  your  rehgion,  I  wonder 
what  God  would  say  if  He  were  to  write  in  black 
capitals  what  we  are  across  our  face ;  I  wonder 
how  many  of  us  would  stop  for  our  neighbours 
to  see.  God  knows  every  man  at  his  worst. 
You  may  deceive  the  preacher,  you  may  deceive 
the  missioner,  and  the  preacher  and  the  missioner 
may  deceive  you.  God  sees,  God  knows,  and 
God  judges,  not  according  to  our  poor  ideals,  not 
according  to  our  own  limited  notions  and  pre- 
conceived ideas  of  what  goodness,  holiness,  salva- 
tion, being  saved,  Christianity,  mean,  but  accord- 
ing to  His  eternal  purpose  in  Christ  Jesus  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world.  Would  He  say  that 
you  have  turned  back  ?  For  He  sees  the  heart. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  heart-backsliding,  when 
nobody  save  God  knows.  You  can  backslide 
without  the  preacher  knowing  it ;  you  can  back- 


102  Slay  Utterly 

slide  without  your  employer  finding  it  out ;  you 
can  backslide  in  a  distant  city,  and  it  is  astonish- 
ing what  some  people  think  they  can  do  with 
impunity  when  they  get  out  of  the  immediate 
community  in  which  they  are  known.  When 
they  go  for  a  holiday  then  they  throw  off  re- 
straint. "  Nobody  knows  me,  and  I  can  do  as  I 
Hke."  Can  you?  Not  while  God  sits  on  His 
throne,  without  being  haled  up  before  the  great 
white  throne  some  day  to  give  an  account  of  every 
thought  as  well  as  every  deed.  God  knows.  He 
sees  the  public  backslider  and  He  sees  the  secret 
backslider,  and  He  knows  every  inch  that  is 
turned  back.  He  knows  it ;  it  is  noted  down  on 
high.  Don't  think  that  God  is  so  busy  manag- 
ing worlds,  and  throwing  out  planets,  fixing  stars, 
and  controlling  the  universe,  that  He  has  not 
time  to  think  of  you.  God  sees  everything  you 
do.  All  else  was  made  for  you.  He  knows 
you ;  the  climax  of  His  power,  the  ideal  life  He 
wants  you  to  live — He  knows  when  He  is  de- 
serted, and  when  you  fall  short  of  it,  and  when 
you  forget  Him,  and  when  you  are  a  rebel.  God 
knows. 

Saul   turned   back.     Poor   Samuel   could  not 
sleep   that   night.     He  cried  unto  the  Lord  all 


Slay  Utterly  103 

that  night,  and  many  a  minister  has  had  the  same 
experience.  Do  you  know  what  turns  the  preach- 
er's hair  gray  ?  It  is  not  work,  it  is  worry. 
Work  is  pleasure,  when  a  man  has  no  care  and 
burden,  no  pain  and  anxiety.  Do  you  know 
what  kills  the  preacher  ?  Do  you  know  what 
digs  the  grave  for  the  preacher  ?  Do  you  know 
what  makes  the  preacher  look  an  old  man  long 
before  he  ought  ?  I  will  tell  you — the  inconsist- 
ency of  his  flock,  the  backsliding  of  office-bearer 
and  communicant,  the  worldliness,  the  want  of 
godliness — that  kills  the  preacher. 

He  cried  unto  the  Lord  all  night.  Poor 
preacher!  God  pity  the  preacher  who  has  to 
minister  to  a  Church  that  is  more  worldlike  than 
Christlike  !  God  pity  the  preacher  whose  flock 
runs  after  the  world  sooner  than  the  prayer- 
meeting  !  God  pity  the  preacher  that  has  to 
minister  to  a  Church  that  hves  for  the  superficial, 
the  social,  and  out  of  touch  with  God !  That 
will  kill  the  preacher.  He  cried  unto  the  Lord 
all  night,  and  when  the  morning  came  (because 
the  secrets  of  the  Lord  are  with  them  that  fear 
Him)  God  spoke  again,  and  said  to  Samuel, 
"  Saul  is  coming  home,  and  he  is  coming  that 
way,  go  and  meet  him";  and  Samuel  went  to 


104  Slay  Utterly 

meet  the  returning  backslider,  and  when  Saul 
saw  him  coming  he  did  what  all  shams  do,  he 
put  on  his  religious  face.  He  put  on  the  face 
that  goes  to  missions  and  conventions.  We  are 
all  more  or  less  guilty,  for  it  is  fashionable  to  put 
on  a  sort  of  religious  face,  a  sanctimonious  look 
and  a  sanctimonious  tone  in  the  voice  and  atti- 
tude. Some  of  you  know  all  about  it.  There 
would  have  been  a  Bible  on  the  table  if  Saul  had 
had  one,  if  he  had  been  at  home  when  the 
prophet  was  coming ;  and  you  have  had  a  Bible 
on  the  table  when  the  preacher  has  called,  as 
though  you  had  been  reading  it.  You  had 
never  been  looking  at  it,  but  you  wanted  him  to 
think  you  had.  "  Blessed  be  thou  of  the  Lord," 
said  Saul.  Don't  you  hear  the  tone  ?  Don't 
you  see  he  knew  the  language  of  Zion  ?  "  Blessed 
be  thou  of  the  Lord,  I  have  performed  the  com- 
mandments." "  Then — listen — what  is  that  ? 
Where  did  you  get  those  sheep  from  ?  Where 
did  you  get  those  oxen  from  ?  If  you  have  per- 
formed the  commandments,  if  you  have  put  the 
sword  in  up  to  the  hilt,  if  you  have  spared  noth- 
ing that  was  condemned  to  die,  where  did  you 
get  those  sheep?  What  meaneth  the  bleating 
of  the  sheep  in  mine  ears  and  the  lowing  of  the 


Slay  Utterly  105 

oxen  ?  "  "  But,"  said  he, ''  I  did  not  do  that,  it 
was  the  people."  Is  that  out  of  date  ?  Don't 
try  to  appear  better  than  you  are,  or  the  sheep 
will  bleat,  the  oxen  will  low.  God  has  a  strange 
way  of  exposing  fraud.  He  knows  how.  When 
you  are  found  out,  play  the  man  if  there  is  any 
manhood  left  in  you  ;  do  not  blame  anybody.  I 
know  we  begin  to  blame  everything  but  the  real 
cause  of  the  trouble  and  of  the  mischief.  If  I 
come  to  some  of  you  men  and  ask  why  you  are 
not  a  Christian  whom  would  you  blame  ?  You 
know  Christ's  claim  on  you.  You  know  He 
died  for  you,  you  know  He  demands  your  love 
and  your  service,  and  He  wants  you  to  be  good 
and  hate  sin,  He  wants  you  to  be  deHvered  from 
it,  for  He  died  that  He  might  make  you  good. 
How  is  it  you  are  not  as  pure  as  the  sunbeam,  as 
sweet  as  the  dewdrop,  as  lovely  as  the  sun-kissed 
heights  of  the  Alps,  as  enchanting  as  the  air  of 
a  spring  morning  when  wafted  by  an  angel's 
wing  ?  Because  God  makes  all  these,  and  He 
can  make  you  as  beautiful.  That  is  His  purpose. 
Calvary  means  that,  that  God  wants  to  make  you 
as  beautiful  as  He  has  made  all  nature  and  even 
the  crown  of  it.  How  is  it  you  are  not  like 
that  ?     Do  you  say, "  Well,  sir,  I  had  a  bad  start, 


io6  Slay  Utterly 

and  if  you  had  had  my  bringing  up  you  would 
have  been  as  bad."  "  My  mother  was  wrong, 
my  father  was  wrong,"  a  poor  fellow  said  to  me 
on  Huddersfield  platform  one  winter's  night 
waiting  for  the  mail  train.  I  had  been  preaching 
in  Leeds.  I  got  hold  of  this  poor  fellow  and  I 
talked  to  him.  He  was  a  commercial  traveller, 
and  he  said,  "  It  is  no  good  to  talk  to  me,  sir ;  I 
am  a  drunkard,"  and  he  looked  like  one  and 
smelt  like  one.  He  said,  "  The  drink  has  got  me 
by  the  throat,  sir  ;  no  hope  for  me.  My  mother 
died  of  drink,  my  father  died  of  drink ;  I  was 
born  with  the  devil  in  me."  '*  Well,"  I  said 
"  you  can  be  born  again,  and  this  time  with  the 
devil  out  of  you."  Jesus  undertakes  your  case  ; 
He  is  a  match  for  you.  He  is  the  friend  of  sin- 
ners, He  is  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  If  you  were 
perfect  you  would  not  need  Him.  He  comes  to 
those  who  are  bad,  and  it  does  not  matter  how 
bad  you  are,  Jesus  Christ  can  grapple  with  your 
case  ;  and  though  it  may  be  difficult,  He  can 
make  you  a  new  creature,  for  He  is  a  mighty 
Saviour.  Do  not  blame  your  parents,  do  not 
blame  your  environment,  because  if  you  lived  in 
a  palace  without  a  new  heart  you  would  make 
the  palace  a  slum.     You  do  not  cure  a  patient 


Slay  Utterly  107 

of  smallpox  by  putting  him  into  clean  sheets  ; 
and  if  you  put  a  pig  in  a  parlour  I  know  which 
will  change  the  quickest.  I  know  men  who 
were  converted  and  changed  their  residence 
three  times  within  a  year,  and  each  time  into  a 
better  neighbourhood  and  into  a  bigger  house. 
What  a  man  is  inside  he  is  outside.  He  makes 
his  own  environment,  and  sin  did  not  begin  in  a 
slum,  it  began  in  a  garden.  Talk  about  a  garden 
city :  surely  if  any  man  had  a  chance  from  his 
environment  Adam  had.  Don't  blame  your  en- 
vironment if  you  are  not  a  Christian  ;  do  not 
blame  your  mother,  do  not  blame  your  father. 
You  may  have  had  a  bad  start,  but  you  will  not 
be  held  responsible  for  the  start,  you  will  be  held 
responsible  for  the  finish.  You  will  not  be  held 
responsible  for  what  your  parents  did,  but  for 
what  you  did.  Do  not  blame  society,  for  you 
are  a  part  of  society,  and  if  society  is  not  right 
you  be  right  and  show  society  what  you  think  it 
ought  to  be.  Don't  blame  the  Church,  because 
most  of  you  do.  You  say,  "  Find  me  a  perfect 
Church,  and  I  will  join  it.'*  Well,  emigrate,  go 
to  some  little  South  Sea  island  where  there  are 
no  inhabitants  and  found  a  Church,  and  when 
you  get  there  it  will  not  be  perfect  five  minutes. 


io8  Slay  Utterly 

None  of  us  are  perfect  in  the  Church,  and  if  you 
find  me  a  perfect  Church  in  this  land  I  will  have 
to  stay  out,  for  I  am  not  perfect  by  any  means, 
but  I  am  trusting  in  a  perfect  Saviour.  It  is  not 
what  I  am,  but  what  He  is.  I  am  not  what  I 
was  ;  I  know  there  is  a  difference.  I  am  not 
what  I  want  to  be.  Don't  blame  the  Church. 
The  Church  is  the  place  where  men  should  come 
who  want  to  learn  to  be  better  than  they  are,  and 
who  believe  in  the  power  of  Almighty  God  to 
make  them  new  creatures.  Don't  blame  the 
minister.  Don't  blame  us,  for  we  are  only 
human,  and  if  you  think  we  have  not  got  re- 
hgion  you  get  it  and  show  us  what  it  ought  to 
be,  and  if  you  can  show  us  anything  better  than 
we  have  we  will  sit  at  your  feet.  Don't  blame 
the  devil,  for  the  devil  can  only  tempt,  he  can- 
not make  you  sin.  No  man  sins  till  he  consents. 
He  can  tempt  but  he  cannot  make.  Listen. 
You  are  a  man,  and  all  these  years  of  your  man- 
hood you  have  managed  to  resist  God  the  Father, 
God  in  His  holiness,  God  on  His  throne,  God 
with  all  His  power,  with  all  His  wisdom,  with 
all  His  burning,  scorching  purity.  You  have 
managed  to  resist  Him,  you  have  managed  to 
resist  the  Son  of  His  love,  the  sacrifice  of  His 


Slay  Utterly  109 

heart,  the  atonement  of  the  Cross,  the  redeem- 
ing blood  and  pardoning  blood.  You  have  re- 
sisted that.  You  have  resisted  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  Regenerator  of  the  heart.  You  have  resisted 
the  Trinity  successfully,  and  when  you  want  to, 
you  will  resist  the  devil  by  the  same  personal 
will-power.  You  can  when  you  want  to.  Pray 
for  the  desire  so  that  you  will  look  yourself  to- 
night square  in  the  face,  pull  yourself  up,  pull 
yourself  round,  face  yourself,  compel  attention, 
demand  thought.  Whatever  else  you  do,  look 
yourself  in  the  face,  if  you  are  not  Christlike,  and 
good,  and  holy,  and  say  at  this  moment,  if  you 
are  wicked,  unclean,  lying,  crooked,  bad-tempered, 
if  that  is  your  condition  it  is  because  you  love  to 
be  so,  and  you  are  content  with  it.  It  is  your 
own  fault  and  not  your  neighbour's,  and  not  your 
master's,  and  not  your  servant's,  and  not  the 
people  about  you,  and  not  the  Church,  and 
not  your  father,  and  not  God,  and  not  His  Son, 
and  not  the  Spirit.  It  is  because  you  have  got 
a  heart  that  is  deceitful  above  all  things  and 
desperately  wicked.  That  is  the  plain  truth, 
and  may  God  help  you  to  see  it. 

Now  if  you  read  this  history  a  little  closer  you 
will  see  what  God  means  when  He  says,  "  Slay 


no  Slay  Utterly 

utterly."  All  the  trouble,  all  the  rejection,  all 
the  loss  to  Saul  and  the  kingdom  for  time  and 
for  eternity,  all  lay  in  that — he  was  not  willing 
to  slay  to  the  death.  No,  he  must  spare  the  best 
of  the  sheep  and  the  best  of  the  oxen.  No 
harm  in  a  few  sheep,  no  harm  in  a  few  prize 
cattle — they  are  all  right ;  but  God  said,  "  Slay, 
slay  utterly." 

And  is  not  the  same  spirit  eating  the  life  out 
of  us,  killing  our  power,  and  spoiling  us  all  along 
the  Hne  for  life  and  service  because  we  are  not 
wilHng  to  obey  ?  What  did  that  request  mean  ? 
*'  I  know  I  ought  to  be  saved,"  said  the  writer  of 
one  of  the  requests  for  prayer  sent  to  me  in  a 
recent  mission,  "  but  I  am  not  wiUing  to  make 
the  sacrifice."  Then  there  will  be  no  salvation 
till  you  do.  You  must  slay  to  the  death.  If  it 
is  gambling — and  it  is  with  some  of  you — slay 
it.  Would  to  God  I  had  my  way  with  drink  and 
gambling,  I  would  set  fire  to  both.  For  the 
sake  of  generations  unborn  I  would  destroy  it 
forever.  There  are  some  of  you  mothers  who 
would  not  give  up  your  drink  to  save  your 
children  from  becoming  drunkards  and  your 
daughters  harlots.  There  are  some  of  you 
fathers  who  would  not  stop  your  gambling  to 


Slay  Utterly  ill 

prevent  your  boys  from  becoming  assassins,  but 
you  will  be  held  responsible  at  the  judgment 
day  for  children  who  are  born  of  half-damned 
parents.  They  are  scathing  words,  I  know,  but 
they  are  true.  You  may  think  it  is  awful  to 
utter  them,  it  is  more  awful  to  demand  that  they 
should  be  stated.  It  is  more  awful  to  be  the  sin- 
ner. Your  drinking  and  your  gambling  must 
go,  your  pride,  your  selfishness,  your  meanness, 
your  bad  temper,  your  un-ChristHkeness  must 
go.  Slay  to  the  death  your  love  of  pleasure, 
your  love  of  show,  your  love  of  appearing  more 
than  you  are.  God  wants  you  to  be  as  sweet 
and  as  lovely  and  as  transparent  as  the  breath  of 
heaven's  own  morning.  That  is  God's  purpose. 
Slay  to  the  death. 

And  if  some  of  you  are  to  do  that  you  must 
disgorge  what  you  have  in  your  pocket,  for 
some  of  you  are  living  on  that  which  belongs  to 
other  people.  Some  of  you  are  in  offices  you  have 
no  right  to  hold.  Some  of  you  are  living  a  double 
life,  and  slaying  to  the  death  means  uncovering, 
confession,  coming  out  and  being  true  at  whatever 
cost,  and  slaying  to  the  death.  Do  you  mean  to 
face  it  ?  It  is  not  singing  hymns  and  going  to 
church  and  saying  a  few  prayers  and  then  living 


112  Slay  Utterly 

as  you  like.  That  is  blasphemy,  that  is  mock- 
ery. Obedience — a  tremendous  word — obedi- 
ence is  better  than  sacrifice.  There  is  something 
better  than  communion.  There  is  something 
better  than  going  to  church,  there  is  something 
better  than  walking  down  the  aisle  on  Sunday 
morning  very  circumspectly  and  giving  the  im- 
pression that  you  are  a  saint.  There  is  such  a 
thing  as  doing  right — that  is  rehgion.  It  is  not 
in  silk  hats  and  frock  coats  and  beautiful  dresses, 
it  is  not  going  to  church  parade  and  making  the 
thing  a  show ;  that  is  humbug  and  cant  in  the 
eyes  of  people  who  make  no  profession  at  all. 
It  is  being  Christlike  that  tells  for  time  and 
eternity. 

Obedience  is  a  divine  command.  Some  of 
you  will  have  to  decide  to-night.  You  will 
decide  between  the  oxen,  the  sheep,  Agag  the 
Amalekite,  the  world,  the  flesh,  the  devil  on  the 
one  hand,  and  Jesus  and  suffering,  the  cross  and 
heaven  on  the  other.  Which  shall  it  be  ?  You 
have  to  decide.  This  man,  Saul,  decided  for  the 
oxen  and  the  sheep.  He  lost  a  crown,  he  lost  a 
kingdom,  and  he  lost  God.  The  kingdom  and 
the  crown  would  not  have  been  much,  but  to 
lose  God,  that  is  hell.     If  you  have  God  you 


Slay  Utterly  113 

can  afford  to  lose  a  good  deal,  but  to  lose  all  and 
God,  that  is  hell  enough.  May  God  save  you 
from  losing  Him  !     Which  will  you  have  ? 

I  was  trying  to  preach  on  this  truth  a  few 
years  ago,  and  at  the  close  of  the  inquiry  meet- 
ing the  wife  of  one  of  the  ministers  came  to  see 
me.  She  said,  "  There  is  a  young  lady  there 
wants  to  speak  to  you ;  she  refuses  to  go  away. 
Nobody  seems  to  be  able  to  help  her ;  she  will 
speak  to  the  preacher."  I  said,  "  I  will  go  with 
you,"  and  we  went  into  the  room.  I  went  to  the 
other  end  of  the  room  and  spoke  to  this  poor 
thing.  She  said,  "  Sir,  I  want  to  confess  an 
awful  sin.  I  am  a  mother,  and  I  fathered  my 
child  on  an  innocent  man.  He  was  a  student  in 
one  of  the  theological  colleges  studying  for  the 
ministry,  and  I  blighted  his  life  as  well  as 
branded  him.  I  took  him  through  three  courts 
and  won  my  case,  but  I  have  a  bit  of  hell  inside. 
He  was  dismissed  and  disgraced,  and  he  is  as 
innocent  as  you  are.     What  am  I  to  do  ?  " 

"  Do  ?  "  I  said ;  "  do  right." 

She  said,  "  I  have  no  peace." 

"  And  you  never  will  have  peace,"  I  said.  "  In 
this  world  you  may  have  pardon  on  condition, 
but  there  is  no  such  thing  as  peace  for  you,  for 


114  S^^y  Utterly 

you  will  never  forgive  yourself  that  wrong."  I 
could  not  spare  her.  I  had  to  be  faithful  in 
order  to  save  her.     I  said  — 

"  You  must  take  off  that  brand  as  publicly  as 
you  put  it  on — ^just  as  publicly." 

"  Oh,  sir ! "  she  said,  "  he  will  send  me  to 
prison." 

I  said,  "  If  it  means  prison,  and  you  go  to 
prison,  you  will  go  with  the  consciousness  that 
you  made  an  honest  attempt  to  undo  the  wrong, 
but  for  you  the  way  to  heaven  is  via  that  con- 
fession, and  there  is  no  such  thing  as  joy  or  peace 
in  God  for  you  without  taking  up  your  cross." 

I  shall  never  forget  the  effect  my  words  made 
on  that  poor  thing.  She  bent,  she  collapsed,  and 
my  heart  ached  for  her.  Yet  I  dare  not  heal  the 
hurt  of  that  poor  thing  slightly,  nor  cry  '^  Peace  " 
falsely.  I  had  to  b^;  faithful,  and  as  I  knelt  be- 
side her  I  said  — 

"  When  you  are  willing  as  far  as  lies  in  your 
power  to  undo  the  wrong,  God  will  help  you, 
and  He  will  not  forsake  you." 

Presently  she  bit  her  lip  till  it  bled,  and,  clasp- 
ing the  chair  in  front  of  her,  she  said,  "  O  God, 
I  will  do  it  if  it  means  prison." 

It  was  not  an  easy  path  for  that  poor  thing, 


Slay  Utterly  115 

but  she  walked  it  bravely.  She  went  back  to 
the  court — and  I  am  speaking  of  what  was  in 
all  the  London  papers — she  went  back  to  the 
court,  and  had  the  court  revise  the  whole  case, 
and  in  that  crowded  court  she  said,  when  they 
asked  her  why  she  made  this  confession,  "  Be- 
cause I  gave  my  heart  to  God,  and  I  had  to  take 
this  course  to  clear  my  conscience  of  its  guilt." 

Her  confession  relieved  her  own  heart  of  its 
burden,  cleared  an  innocent  man,  and  made  an 
impression  on  that  city  which  is  felt  to-day.  The 
only  path  of  peace  is  the  path  of  righteousness. 

Slay  utterly,  put  away  the  evil  thing,  obey 
God.  Put  Him  in  His  right  place,  and  the  joy 
and  peace  will  come. 

Will  you  do  it  now  ?  You  will  obey  His  Word 
or  reject  it. 

Which  will  you  do  ?  Saul  rejected  and  lost  a 
kingdom.  If  you  are  not  careful  you  may  lose 
your  soul. 


VII  1 

HE  WENT  AWAY  SORROWFUL 


"  But  when  the  young  man  heard  that  saying,  he  went  away 
sorrowful;  for  he  had  great  possessions," — Matt,  ig: 22. 


VII 

HE  WENT  AWAY  SORROWFUL 

When  the  young  man  heard  that  saying !  Do 
you  know  what  that  saying  was  ?  Jesus  had  just 
said  to  him  that  he  must  sell  all,  give  all,  leave 
all,  and  follow  Him  all  the  way;  that  he  must 
make  a  complete  surrender  of  himself  and  all  he 
possessed  to  Christ  and  for  the  purposes  of  His 
kingdom.  As  he  heard  that  saying  he  went 
away,  for  he  had  great  possessions,  and  they 
were  great  hindrances.  He  was  a  rich  man,  and 
it  is  not  easy  for  a  rich  man  to  be  an  out-and- 
out  Christian.  A  rich  man  may  be  a  Christian, 
and  some  are  splendid  Christians ;  but  in  my 
judgment  it  takes  far  more  grace  to  keep  a  rich 
man  than  it  does  to  keep  a  poor  man.  I  know 
many  good  men  who  are  also  rich  men,  and  their 
riches  are  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God  and 
men.  But  riches  make  it  easy  for  men  to  go 
wrong  and  to  do  wrong.  That  is  why  the  Book 
says,  "  Set  not  thy  heart  upon  them."  "  You 
cannot  serve  two  masters."  "  You  cannot  serve 
God  and  mammon." 

119 


120        He  Went  Away  Sorrowful 

I  want  especially  to  speak  to  you  about  three 
words  in  the  centre  of  this  verse :  "  He  went 
away."  He,  the  rich  young  ruler,  the  aristo- 
cratic, cultured,  refined,  moral,  popular,  attractive 
young  ruler,  with  a  beautiful  character  and  many 
magnificent  points  about  him — he  went  away. 

I  would  like  you  first  of  all  to  remember  that 
he  came  to  Jesus.  It  is  something  to  come. 
Nobody  can  see  Jesus  as  the  Lord  but  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Nobody  will  desire  to  come  to 
Christ  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  No  one  takes  an 
intelligent  step  towards  Jesus  but  as  the  direct 
result  of  the  prompting  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
No  man  can  come  to  Jesus  Christ  except  the 
Father  draw  him.  Some  do  not  come  when 
they  are  drawn.  I  do  not  think  we  sufficiently 
emphasize  this  side  of  the  Gospel  truth — that 
every  upward  look,  every  holy  desire,  every 
thought  of  goodness,  every  aspiration  for  a 
nobler  life,  does  not  come  from  the  heart  within, 
for  that  is  a  sink  of  iniquity.  It  is  the  work  of 
the  blessed  Spirit  which  God  has  given  to  con- 
vict the  world  of  sin.  of  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment. 

The  fact  that  you  are  here  is  a  proof  that  God 
is  calling  you,  that  He  is  trying  to  win  you,  is 


He  Went  Away  Sorrowful        121 

coaxing  you,  arousing  you,  startling  you,  making 
you  anxious  about  these  things,  and  leading  you 
to  desire  them. 

What  do  we  sing  sometimes.  "  Every  virtue 
we  'possess,  and  every  victory  won."  What  is 
the  next  line  ?  "And  every  thought  of  holiness, 
are  His,  and  His  alone."  Have  you  found  in 
your  heart  a  desire  for  Jesus  Christ  ?  You  must 
nurse  it  and  coax  it.  It  is  God's  blessed  Spirit 
given  to  lead  you  from  dark  darkness  to  light. 
Do  not  resist  it,  but  yield  to  its  pathos  and  power, 
and  it  will  lead  you  through  the  dungeon  to  the 
palace,  from  the  prison  to  the  freedom  of  the 
gospel ;  from  misery  to  the  joy  of  His  salvation, 
from  the  thraldom  of  the  devil  into  the  glorious 
hberty  of  God's  dear  children.  It  will  lead  you 
all  the  way.  And  when  you  begin  do  not  stop, 
go  on.  Do  not  listen  when  some  try  to  stop 
you.  Do  not  halt  by  the  way.  Turn  not  to  the 
left  hand  nor  the  right.  I  know  there  are  those 
who  will  be  foolish  enough,  wicked  and  diabol- 
ical enough  to  oppose  you  and  to  slander  you. 
Move  steadily  on  with  your  eyes  upon  the  Cross. 
Let  it  not  be  said  of  any  of  you  that  he  came  so 
far  and  then  went  away  again.  Now  this  man 
came  to  Jesus.     It  is  something  to  come.    Some 


122        He  Went  Away  Sorrowful 

of  you  have  never  done  even  that.  You  have 
never  moved  an  intelligent  step  towards  Jesus 
Christ.  You  have  taken  a  good  many  steps  the 
other  way.  You  have  gone  so  far  that  when 
you  turn  and  look  back  at  the  distance  between 
you  and  goodness,  and  God,  and  heaven,  you  are 
alarmed.  If  you  dare  stop  and  look  back  you 
are  alarmed  at  the  picture  that  presents  itself; 
you  are  startled  at  the  distance  you  have  travelled 
down  the  wrong  road.  Stop  a  moment  and 
listen.  Have  you  ever  taken  an  honest  step  to- 
wards the  light  ?  Have  you  ever  taken  an  intel- 
ligent step  towards  Jesus  Christ?  Have  you 
ever  moved  honestly  towards  a  better  life  ?  This 
man  did.  He  came  to  Christ.  But  he  not  only 
came,  he  came  running.  It  looks  as  if  he  was 
an  earnest,  enthusiastic  seeker  after  truth.  Re- 
member who  he  was — an  aristocratic,  rich  young 
ruler,  a  popular,  educated  man,  whom  everybody 
in  the  city  knew  ;  and  yet,  in  broad  daylight,  that 
man  was  seen  running  to  Jesus.  Walking  was 
not  fast  enough.  He  came,  says  one  of  the 
writers,  running  to  Jesus.  And  I  tell  you  that 
when  we  are  in  earnest  after  God  and  heaven 
and  eternal  life,  and  when  our  eyes  are  open  to 
see  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,  like  Bunyan's 


He  Went  Away  Sorrowful        123 

pilgrim,  we  shall  put  our  fingers  in  our  ears  and 
flee  from  the  city  of  destruction  towards  the  land 
of  light,  and  love,  and  hberty.  We  shall  run 
crying,  "  Life  !  "  The  Lord  help  us  to  be  in 
earnest !  The  young  man  ran ;  he  seemed  to  be 
in  earnest. 

Watch  hirn !  When  he  gets  to  Jesus  he 
kneels,  so  that  it  looks  as  though  he  were  hum- 
ble. It  is  a  good  thing  to  kneel.  It  is  not  a 
weak  thing  nor  a  mean  thing  to  kneel.  It  may 
be  childlike,  but  it  is  not  childish.  It  takes  a 
man  to  do  it  when  there  are  other  folk  looking 
on.  It  is  not  a  fooHsh  nor  a  sanctimonious  thing 
to  kneel.  There  are  some  who  think  it  is,  and 
they  do  not,  will  not,  kneel  in  consequence. 
They  never  pray.  You  prayed  once  when  you 
were  at  your  mother's  knee.  But  there  are  some 
of  you  who  have  never  prayed  since  you  said, 
"  Gentle  Jesus,  meek  and  mild  "  ;  "  Jesus,  tender 
Shepherd,  hear  me."  Some  of  you  have  never 
prayed  since  you  felt  your  mother's  hand  upon 
your  head,  except  to  ask  God  to  blind  you,  to 
damn  you,  to  paralyze  you,  to  strike  you  dead. 
Some  of  you  can  do  that.  You  contaminate 
God's  pure  air  with  your  oaths  and  curses.  You 
might  have  been  to  hell  for  your  education,  and 


124        He  Went  Away  Sorrowful 

had  the  devil  for  your  schoolmaster.  You  have 
mastered  the  language  of  the  pit  so  perfectly. 
May  God  help  you  to  quit  your  swearing  !  It  is 
a  mercy  God  has  not  heard  those  awful  prayers. 

I  say  again  that  it  is  not  a  childish  thing  to 
pray.  It  is  a  beautiful  thing  to  pray ;  a  manly, 
an  ennobhng  thing.  It  is  an  act  that  Jesus  is 
pleased  to  see.  When  a  man  turns  from  his  sin, 
his  '  rebellion,  his  uncleanness,  his  drunkenness, 
his  lying,  his  pride,  his  wicked  abominations,  and 
his  lust,  and  gets  upon  his  knees  to  pray,  the  Son 
of  God  looks  over  the  battlements  of  the  skies, 
and  says,  "  Behold,  he  prays."  Do  not  think  it 
is  a  childish  thing  to  pray.  It  is  the  way  to 
heaven.     This  man  prayed. 

If  you  look  at  him  a  little  closer,  you  will  see 
he  seems  not  only  in  earnest  and  humble,  but  as 
if  he  is  honest  he  opens  his  heart  to  Jesus.  He 
seems  to  say,  "  Just  tell  me  what  to  do.  I  want 
eternal  life.  I  know  I  have  not  got  it.  I  feel  a 
hunger  that  has  never  been  satisfied,  that  I  have 
never  been  able  to  appease.  There  are  thoughts 
in  me  which  I  do  not  understand.  There  are 
depths  in  my  being  I  have  never  been  able  to 
fathom,  heights  I  have  never  been  able  to  scale, 
immensities  I  cannot  measure.     I  somehow  feel 


He  Went  Away  Sorrowful        125 

I  want  life,  eternal  life.  What  shall  I  do  to  get 
it  ?  O  man  of  sorrows,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  good 
Master,  tell  me  what  I  am  to  do."  And  Jesus 
led  him  step  by  step.  He  tried  him  by  the  law  ; 
and  the  young  man  said,  "  All  these  have  I  kept 
from  my  youth  up ;  but  I  do  not  feel  satisfied. 
Something  is  missing.  What  lack  I  yet  ?  "  And 
Jesus  said,  "  Hear,  then  !  Sell  that — t-h-a-t — 
thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor y  and  come  and  fol- 
low Me;  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven." 
Look,  listener.  He  ran  to  Jesus  and  seemed 
enthusiastic;  he  knelt  to  Jesus  and  seemed 
humble.  With  honest  frankness  he  confessed 
his  heart's  need  to  Christ;  and  if  he  take  but 
one  step  more,  he  will  be  saved.  If  he  make 
a  surrender  of  himself  and  his  possessions, 
the  angels  will  sing  for  joy,  and  the  Church  of 
God  will  be  the  richer  for  all  time.  If  he  be 
honest,  brave,  courageous,  and  whole-hearted, 
and  just  step  over  the  line,  what  joy  for  time  and 
eternity  he  will  create.  But  listen,  immortal 
spirit.  See  yourself,  will  you  ?  He  came  there, 
but  he  went  away.  Do  you  not  see  how  much 
you  can  do,  and  yet  do  nothing  ?  Do  you  not 
see  how  far  you  can  climb,  only  to  fall  into  the 
infinity  of  horrors ;  how  much  you  can  seem  to 


126        He  Went  Away  Sorrowful 

know  and  yet  be  a  fool ;  how  moral  and  attractive 
and  beautiful  it  is  possible  to  be  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world,  and  yet  be  bad  enough  to  turn  your 
back  on  Christ,  and  go  your  own  way  ?  Is  not 
that  a  full-length  portrait  of  yourself?  You  may 
be  in  this  house  to-night.  You  may  have  come 
to  talk  with  Jesus.  These  wonderful  privileges 
may  be  yours,  and  yet  you  may  go  away. 

Is  it  possible  for  a  man  to  talk  with  Jesus,  to 
look  into  the  face  of  Jesus,  to  handle  Jesus,  and 
yet  to  go  away?  Yes,  this  young  man  did  it, 
and  went  away.  You  can  do  more  than  that. 
You  can  live  with  Jesus  and  not  know  Him. 
Judas  did  for  three  years,  and  then  sold  Him  for 
thirty  pieces  of  silver.  Some  of  you  have  sold 
Him  for  less  than  that.  Judas  had  a  field  out  of 
the  bargain.  " :  ou  have  got  nothing.  Listen. 
You  can  do  more  than  live  with  Him.  You  can 
die  in  His  presence,  and  never  know  Him.  The 
thief  did,  and  cursed  Him  in  his  dying  moments. 
You  can  have  a  great  many  privileges  and  yet 
go  away.  What  are  you  doing,  my  brother? 
Is  that  your  history  ?  If  this  young  man  had 
only  stepped  across  the  line,  if  he  had  only 
declared  himself,  how  differently  the  story  would 
have  read.     If  he  had  looked  upon  the  sacrifice 


He  Went  Away  Sorrowful         127 

which  Jesus  commanded  him  to  make,  and  then 
looked  on  Jesus  and  on  heaven,  and  thought  of 
all  it  meant;  of  the  height,  the  length,  the  depth, 
the  breadth,  the  eternity,  the  joy,  the  honour,  the 
usefulness  for  time  and  eternity  that  comes  to  a 
man  who  is  associated  with,  and  living  in  and  for 
Emmanuel ;  if  he  had  taken  just  that  one  step, 
he  might  have  written  an  epistle,  he  might  have 
been  an  evangelist  of  the  early  Church.  If  he 
had  come  into  the  kingdom  with  all  his  in- 
fluence and  all  his  magnificent  character  and 
capabilities,  he  would  have  swept  hundreds  and 
thousands  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  All  that 
was  lost  because  he  did  not  come.  And  when 
you  stand  at  the  bar  of  God  you  will  be  held 
responsible  not  only  for  what  you  have  done,  but 
for  what  you  might  have  done  if  you  had  been 
on  the  right  side.  God  has  made  certain  invest- 
ments in  you,  and  He  expects  some  return  now 
and  by  and  by ;  and  woe  be  to  the  man  or  woman 
who  meets  with  a  disappointed  Christ.  You 
know  what  happened  to  that  fig-tree.  He 
cursed  it.  He  did  not  die  for  it.  He  died  for 
you.  He  was  disappointed,  and  He  cursed  the 
tree  at  night,  and  in  the  morning  it  was  dead. 
I    want    you    to    think.     "  He   went   away." 


128        He  Went  Away  Sorrowful 

Where  did  he  go  to  ?  Back  to  his  riches  ;  but 
his  riches  did  not  satisfy  him,  and  they  never 
would.  Riches  are  convenient.  They  may 
gratify  you  to  a  large  extent.  They  may 
give  you  opportunities  for  pleasures  and  prefer- 
ments. They  may  help  you  to  widen  your  out- 
look for  a  httle,  or  may  bHnd  your  outlook. 
Riches  are  convenient,  but  they  do  not  feed  the 
man  within.  A  soul  cannot  be  fed  on  bricks 
and  mortar.  The  man  who  rides  in  carriages 
and  drives  the  fastest  horses,  who  drinks  the 
most  sparkling  wines,  and  sits  in  the  fastest 
company  does  not  revel  in  these  things  long. 
He  turns  away  from  them,  wearied  and  tired, 
and  sick  at  heart.  A  lady  said  to  me  a  little 
while  ago,  "  I  can  have  all  I  want,  as  far  as 
money  is  concerned,"  and  a  big  tear  rolled  down 
her  cheek ;  "  I  can  have  my  delights,  my  fine 
clothes,  my  carriage,  and  my  box  at  the  opera 
or  the  theatre.  I  can  have  my  fashions  and  my 
fashionable  society,"  and  sh-e  shook  like  a  tired 
bird ;  "  but  I  am  weary  of  it  all.  I  want  Jesus. 
These  things  do  not  satisfy  me."  If  gold  could 
feed  a  soul,  then  happy  would  that  man  have 
been  who  went  down  in  that  seething  whirlpool 
and   left   two   millions    of  money   behind   him. 


He  Went  Away  Sorrowful        129 

There  was  not  a  ripple  to  mark  the  place  where 
he  sank.     His  millions  made  him  a  suicide. 

A  millionaire  died  a  little  while  ago  and  left 
twenty  millions.  His  own  family  said  he  was 
the  most  miserable  wretch  they  ever  knew.  You 
cannot  satisfy  the  man  within  with  riches.  You 
are  not  built  that  way.  You  are  built  with  dif- 
ferent material,  the  material  out  of  which  God 
builds  the  planets,  out  of  which  God  builds  the 
eternities.  When  worlds  go  out  Hke  sparks 
from  a  blacksmith's  anvil,  when  those  planets 
are  split-wheels  on  the  highroads  of  the  eter- 
nities, you  will  still  exist.  Why  do  you  not  try 
and  feed  your  soul  on  things  eternal  ?  Why  feed 
on  air,  and  "  spend  your  money  for  that  which  is 
not  bread  and  your  labour  for  that  which 
satisfieth  not "  ?  "  Eat  jq  that  which  is  good, 
and  may  your  soul  delight  itself  in  fatness." 
His  riches  could  not  help  him.  When  he  left 
Jesus,  he  left  the  riches  of  the  skies.  He  left 
the  treasures  that  never  fade  away.  His  riches 
could  not  help  him,  and  they  cannot  help  you. 

Where  did  he  go  ?  Did  he  go  to  his  friends  ? 
Who  could  take  the  place  of  Jesus?  He  had 
left  Him.  His  friends  were  as  badly  off  as  he. 
He   had   not  found  in  his  friends  what  he  had 


130        He  Went  Away  Sorrowful 

wanted,  or  he  would  not  have  come  to  Jesus. 
The  true  friends  of  this  world  are  few  and  far 
between.  False  friends  bless  you  while  the  sun 
shines ;  they  applaud  you  whilst  your  pockets 
are  full,  you  cheek  red,  your  eye  clear,  and  your 
brain  brilliant;  but  let  sorrow  come,  let  the 
cyclone  of  misery  strike  you,  the  avalanche  of 
failure  fall  upon  you,  and  then  where  are  your 
friends  ?  They  do  not  know  you.  The  friend- 
ships of  the  world  are  poor.  Do  not  think  you 
will  find  a  substitute  in  humanity  for  Jesus  Christ. 
He  is  "  a  friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a 
brother." 

Where  did  he  go?  Back  to  his  pleasures? 
They  faded,  and  passed  away  with  the  evening. 
They  were  gone  with  the  morning  cloud.  They 
perished  in  the  using,  faded  hke  the  flowers,  and 
went  out  with  the  light.  There  is  a  certain 
amount  of  gratification  in  worldly  pleasure,  I 
know,  but  it  does  not  last.  Wait  till  the  bloom 
has  gone  from  your  cheek ;  it  can  never  be  put 
back.  You  may  try,  but  we  know  when  it  is  not 
real.  When  the  eye  grows  dim,  you  can  never 
light  that  fire  again.  Wait  till  the  brain  refuses 
to  think,  till  the  hand  trembles,  and  the  step  is 
infirm.     What  then  ?     Where  are  the  pleasures 


He  Went  Away  Sorrowful        131 

then  ?  You  may  call  them  up,  but  they  will  re- 
fuse to  come;  you  may  thunder,  but  they  will 
be  deaf;  you  may  ask  the  pleasures  of  the  world 
to  fulfill  their  part  of  the  contract,  the  bargain 
they  promised  to  give  you  ;  but  they  are  bank- 
rupt, they  are  sold  up  and  empty. 

The  pleasures  He  gives  are  forevermore. 
"  His  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  His 
paths  are  peace." 

Where  did  he  go  ?  Did  he  go  to  heaven  ? 
Come  now,  you  are  an  intelligent  man ;  I  appeal 
to  your  judgment  and  your  conscience.  Did  he 
go  to  heaven  ?  Remember  Jesus  Christ  was 
there.  This  young  man  came  to  Jesus,  but  he 
went  away  when  he  was  told  what  to  do  to  get 
into  the  kingdom.  Did  he  go  to  heaven  ?  No, 
he  left  that  when  he  left  Jesus.  If  you  could 
cHmb  the  steps  of  gold,  get  through  the  gates  of 
pearl,  '.nd  search  for  him,  you  would  search  in 
vain.  If  you  looked  across  the  landscape  of 
eternal  beauty  you  would  not  find  him ;  if  you 
looked  at  the  processions  of  triumph  you  would 
not  find  him  there ;  if  you  looked  through  the 
many  mansions  you  would  not  find  him ;  if  you 
looked  for  him  among  the  multitude  which  John 
saw,   which   no   man   can   number,  that  "  have 


132        He  Went  Away  Sorrowful 

washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb,"  you  would  not  find  him 
there.  He  is  not  known  to  the  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah.  And  if  you  went  and  said  to  Jesus, 
"  Master,  where  is  that  young  ruler  ?  The  last 
time  I  saw  him  was  in  that  evangelistic  service, 
and  he  seemed  concerned.  He  ran,  he  was 
moved,  he  prayed,  he  wept,  he  asked  then  what 
he  was  to  do  to  be  saved,  he  seemed  very  prom- 
ising. Where  is  he  ?  "  I  think  Jesus  would  say, 
"  Do  you  not  know  that  he  went  away  ?  He 
might  have  been  here,  but  he  left  this  when  he 
left  Me.  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life. 
No  man  cometh  to  the  Father  but  by  Me." 
There  is  no  other  way  given  under  heaven 
whereby  we  can  be  saved.  The  man  who  refuses 
to  take  that  course,  morning,  noon,  and  night, 
goes  out  into  the  darkness,  the  deep,  dark  night, 
the  starless,  hopeless,  eternal  night. 

"  He  went  away."  Jesus  comes  to  you  now, 
my  brother,  to  you,  my  sister,  with  a  voice  full 
of  pathos,  full  of  pleading,  full  of  love  for  you, 
full  of  power  to  save  you. 

He  knows  what  you  are  thinking,  what  you 
are  feeling.  You  are  concerned  about  your  soul, 
because  His  Spirit  is  striving  with  you,  making 


He  Went  Away  Sorrowful         133 

you  think  of  eternal  things.  In  the  Hght  of  this 
young  man's  case,  now  that  you  are  on  the  point 
of  turning  one  way  or  the  other,  He  says  to  you, 
"  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?  "  Can  you  in  the  face 
of  that  ?  Dare  you  go  away  ?  If  you  dare. 
Some  day  you  will  hear  Him  say,  "  Then  they 
went  away,  now  they  must  go  into  the  outer  dark- 
nessJ'  You  must  settle  it  with  yourself.  No- 
body can  hinder  you  if  you  will  come ;  nobody 
can  make  you  come  unless  you  will.  How  can 
I  help  you  to  do  it  ?  I  plead  with  you  for  Jesus 
Christ's  sake  not  to  go  another  step  in  the  wrong 
direction,  not  to  take  another  step  away  from 
Jesus.  If  you  cannot  get  to  Him  because  you 
feel  too  feeble,  if  you  feel  too  paralyzed  and 
physically  unable  to  take  a  step  towards  Him  be- 
cause of  sin,  then  turn  your  face  to  Him.  Do 
not  turn  your  back  upon  Him,  for  that  means 
death.  Fall  upon  your  knees,  looking  unto  Jesus. 
Pray  now.  You  say,  "  I  cannot  pray."  Say  this 
prayer,  "  Lord,  help  me,"  and  if  you  cannot  say 
it  all,  say  "  Lord."  If  you  cannot  say  even  that, 
then  LOOK,  for  "  There  is  life  for  a  look  at  the 
Crucified  One,  There  is  life  at  this  moment  for 
thee." 

With  all  the  power  of  my  being,  for  Christ's 


134        He  Went  Away  Sorrowful 

sake,  for  the  sake  of  the  Cross,  for  the  sake  of 
the  bloody  sweat,  for  the  sake  of  the  grief  and 
shame,  do  not  go  away.  Move  towards  Him, 
and  let  it  be  now,  remembering  that  "  there  is 
joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth." 


VIII 
THE    FINAL    CHOICE 


"  And  as  he  reasoned  of  righteousness  and  temperance  (or, 
as  the  Revised  Version  has  it,  '  self-control '  )  and  judgment  to 
come,  Felix  trembled  (or,  was  terrified),  and  answered.  Go 
thy  way  for  this  time :  when  I  have  a  convenient  season  (and 
please  note  the  little  word  *  more  '  which  you  so  often  put  in 
when  you  quote  this  verse  is  not  in  the  verse  at  all :  it  is  often 
quoted,  '  "When  I  have  a  more  convenient  season  ' ;  the  word 
«more'  is  not  there) — when  I  have  a  convenient  season  I  will 
call  for  thee." — Acts  24.:  2^. 


VIII 

THE  FINAL  CHOICE 

This  is  a  wonderful  picture.  I  wish  I  could 
paint  it.  Three  people — one  God's  prophet, 
God's  messenger,  the  other  two  a  man  and  a 
woman  who  were  living  a  very  sinful  hfe.  Paul 
is  in  prison,  awaiting  his  trial,  and  these  two 
want  some  new  excitement,  something  to  amuse 
and  something  to  entertain.  Time,  though  they 
live  in  sin,  hangs  heavily.  They  are  spending 
their  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread,  and  their 
labour  for  that  which  satisfieth  not,  and  like  the 
man  of  whom  we  read  that  longed  for  some  new 
pleasure,  and  offered  a  reward  to  anybody  who 
would  invent  one,  these  two  want  something  else 
to  excite,  something  to  pass  away  the  time,  and 
so  they  send  for  God's  prophet  that  he  may  en- 
tertain them.  Says  the  verse  that  precedes  this 
one,  "  He  sent  for  Paul  and  heard  him  concerning 
faith  in  Christ."  And  it  needs  courage  to  preach 
to  one  man,  or  to  two  people.  There  are  those 
who  can  preach  to  the  crowd.  It  takes  a  man 
with  the  vision  of  the  Cross  to  preach  to  two 
people  ;  to  see  that  a  little  child  may  be  a  nation  ; 
and  when  we  have  the  right  spirit  we  shall  see  in 
137 


138  The  Final  Choice 

one  person  something  worth  preaching  to.  If 
you  are  sent  to  preach  the  truth,  you  must  be 
unsparing  and  faithful,  you  must  declare  the 
whole  counsel  of  God.  It  takes  courage  to 
preach  to  the  man  who  sits  in  a  high  position, 
when  he  is  close  to  you,  when  he  is  in  his  own 
house  and  you  are  sitting  at  his  table,  or  in  his 
own  room  face  to  face. 

That  was  the  picture.  There  sat  Drusilla,  there 
sat  Felix,  and  here  stood  Paul,  and  he  may  have 
had  the  chains  on  him,  the  chains  that  told  of 
suffering  for  Christ's  sake.  Paul  never  had  a 
better  chance  than  then  of  making  a  friend  of 
one  who  could  help  him  when  the  trial  came  on. 
His  enemies  were  outside,  his  accusers  were  away. 
Those  who  were  thirsting  for  his  blood  were  not 
in  this  little,  quiet  meeting  amongst  the  three.  If 
he  will  only  flatter,  if  he  will  only  congratulate 
instead  of  expostulate,  if  he  will  fawn  upon  Fehx 
and  toady  to  him,  if  he  will  compromise  he  may 
capture  this  man  at  any  rate,  and  he  will  have  a 
friend  at  court  when  the  day  of  trial  comes. 

But,  listen,  Paul  was  not  made  of  that  material. 
He  could  suffer,  he  could  die,  but  he  could  not 
sin,  he  could  not  trim.  His  message  was  burning 
in  his  very  soul,  his  message  had  come  down  to 
him  as  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord."     And  he  seemed 


The  Final  Choice  139 

to  take  in  the  whole  situation,  and  to  realize  that 
this  was  his  only  chance  of  deaHng  personally, 
pointedly,  piercingly  with  this  sinner  in  front  of 
him  and  the  other  sinner  beside  him.  And  so 
he  reasoned — of  the  Cross  ?  Not  to  begin  with. 
Of  the  shed  blood?  Not  to  begin  with.  Did 
he  preach  from  this  text,  "  God  so  loved  the 
world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son  "  ? 
Not  to  begin  with.  Did  he  say,  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  on  the  Son  shall  be  saved  "  ?  No.  He 
reasoned  of  righteousness,  he  talked  about  God's 
holiness.  He  talked  about  God's  love  for  right- 
eousness and  holiness,  and  how  it  was  His  pur- 
pose to  hft  men  into  that  atmosphere.  And  he 
would  talk  about  God's  hatred  for  sin,  and  he 
made  sin  appear  sin.  He  did  not  excuse  sin ; 
he  meant  Felix  to  see  and  feel  the  awfulness  of 
his  own  sin.  He  reasoned  of  rightness,  whole- 
ness, Godlikeness,  purity.  He  brought  him  up 
to  face  the  blazing  light  and  the  scorching 
presence  of  God's  purity.  He  talked  of  right- 
eousness. I  do  not  think  that  that  side  of 
the  truth  in  these  days  is  enforced  as  it  ought 
to  be.  We  have  preached  the  love  of  God  till 
some  are  lovesick.  You  know  God's  love  ;  what 
you  need  to  be  told,  and  what  I  mean  to  tell  you 
before  I  get  through,  is  that  God  hates  sin  as 


140  The  Final  Choice 

much  to-day  as  when  Christ  hung  on  the  nails  to 
put  it  away,  and  that  He  does  not  look  upon  sin 
with  the  least  degree  of  allowance. 

He  reasoned  of  righteousness  to  a  man  who 
was  unrighteous.  He  talked  about  self-control 
— temperance — to  the  man  who  was  intemperate, 
and  whose  passion  was  running  wild.  The  man 
within  was  riot.  His  whole  being  was  in  a  state 
of  anarchy,  a  rebel. 

He  talked  of  righteousness,  judgment;  and  as 
I  have  tried  to  enforce  before,  religion  that  hon- 
ours God  is  right-doing,  walking  straight,  holding 
a  constant  witness  to  the  cleansing  power  of  the 
precious  blood.  It  is  not  hunting  up  meetings 
and  preachers  and  going  to  conventions,  taking 
your  pencils  and  writing  down  in  little  note- 
books pretty  little  sayings,  beautiful  little  ex- 
tracts, pretty  thoughts.  It  is  letting  them  blaze 
in  your  life  when  the  convention  is  over,  when 
the  meeting  is  past,  when  the  Sunday  is  gone, 
Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  Fri- 
day, Saturday,  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days 
in  the  year  all  aglow,  warm  with  holiness  unto 
the  Lord.  Righteousness — "  The  kingdom  of 
God  is  not  meat  and  drink,  but  rightness — right- 
ness."  It  is  turning  from  darkness  to  light,  from 
the  power  of  Satan   to   God.     It  is  the  wicked 


The  Final  Choice  141 

man  forsaking  his  wickedness  in  conformity  to 
the  will  of  God.  Righteousness — not  going  to 
church,  nor  being  christened,  or  confirmed,  or 
baptized,  or  taking  communion.  All  that  will 
fall  into  the  proper  place,  but  first  of  all  right- 
eousness, rightness,  right  relationship  with  heaven, 
readjustment  with  God,  putting  me  in  my  right 
place  with  God,  and  God  in  His  right  place  in  me 
and  in  all  my  concerns.  What  we  want  is  sin 
dethroned,  self  dethroned,  Christ  honoured  and 
Christ  glorified  not  only  among  the  angels,  not 
only  among  the  saints  who  march  around  the 
steps  of  the  throne,  not  only  among  those  who 
have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  are  singing  the  song 
of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  but  down  here  in  the 
city,  in  your  home,  in  your  workshop,  in  your 
business — rightness,  righteousness  in  your  yard 
measure,  righteousness  in  your  weights  and  scales, 
righteousness  in  your  ledger;  to  handle  your 
ledger  with  as  much  religious  feeling  and  fervour 
as  you  take  your  seat  in  the  pew  on  Sundays  and 
handle  the  communion  cup — this  is  what  the 
gospel  means. 

I  tell  you  this  is  a  mighty,  sweeping  gospel. 
It  is  an  unsparing  gospel  where  sin  is  concerned. 
**  He  reasoned  of  righteousness,  of  temperance, 


142  The  Final  Choice 

and  of  judgment " — judgment,  don't  forget  it, 
judgment  here  and  judgment  yonder.  Do  not 
forget  that  "  God  hath  appointed  a  day  in  which 
He  will  judge  the  world."  Do  not  forget  that 
there  is  a  great  white  throne,  and  that  we  will 
have  to  stand  before  it.  Do  not  forget  that  we 
shall  stand  as  we  are  and  not  as  we  seem  to  be, 
and  that  we  will  have  to  give  an  account  of  the 
deeds  done  in  the  body.  And  do  not  forget  that 
it  will  not  be  a  mock  judgment,  it  will  be  a  right- 
eous judgment,  that  God  will  be  the  judge,  and 
that  He  will  render  to  every  man  according  as 
his  work  shall  be.  Oh,  to  have  listened  to  this 
preacher,  to  have  heard  Paul  as  he  waxed  fiery, 
flaming  as  he  talked  of  righteousness  and  of 
judgment !  Oh,  to  have  seen  the  flash  in  his  eye, 
and  the  pointed  finger  and  the  erect  figure  as  he 
shook  and  the  chains  rattled,  while  he  lifted  as 
high  as  he  could  that  hand,  pointing  to  the  great 
white  throne  !  Oh,  to  have  seen  him  as  he  pealed 
out  the  truth  upon  that  man  like  a  mighty  thun- 
der-clap into  his  conscience  and  into  his  brain 
until  he  shook,  until  the  seat  shook  on  which  he 
sat,  until  he  clutched  it  and  said,  "  Hold !  that 
will  do,  Paul.  I  know  it  is  true,  I  have  heard  as 
much  as  I  can  carry,  I  have  got  as  much  as  I  can 
bear ;  that  will  do.     Go  back  to  the  dungeon.     It 


The  Final  Choice  143 

is  not  convenient.  I  know  it  all,  I  feel  it  all ;  I 
know  what  I  ought  to  do.  My  soul,  my  con- 
science, my  better  self,  my  illuminated  judgment, 
everything — God  the  Spirit,  your  word  and  your 
presence,  and  these  clanking  chains — tells  me 
what  I  ought  to  be  and  what  I  ought  to  do,  but 
it  is  not  convenient.  When  it  is  convenient  I 
will  send  for  thee."  Cannot  you  hear  him  march- 
ing down  that  corridor  ?  Cannot  you  hear  the 
rattle  of  those  chains  ?  and  don't  you  hear  the 
slamming  of  the  door  that  shuts  the  old  saint  up 
— glorious  old  Paul — in  that  dungeon  for  Christ's 
sake?  Listen.  The  slamming  of  that  door  is 
but  the  echo  of  another  door  which  closed  itself 
forever  against  these  two  when  Paul  was  ordered 
off.  When  he  went  their  chance  went  with  him. 
Oh,  how  different  the  story  might  have  read ! 
How  blessedly  it  might  have  ended !  How  tri- 
umphantly it  ought  to  have  ended !  But  the 
man  hugged  his  sin  and  would  not  yield. 

Now  why  did  not  Felix  become  a  Christian  ? 
He  might  have  been  an  apostle,  he  might  have 
been  an  evangelist,  he  might  have  written  an 
epistle.  It  takes  a  saint  to  do  that.  He  might 
have  left  a  message  which  would  have  blessed  the 
world,  he  might  have  left  a  decision  that  would 
have  been  an  inspiration  for  all  time.     But  he 


144  '^^^  Final  Choice 

went  the  other  way.  He  decided  against  Paul 
and  Paul's  Christ.  And  surely  if  any  man  in  the 
world  ever  had  a  fair  chance  of  salvation  Felix 
had.  With  the  world  shut  out  and  with  that 
great  soul-winner  in  front  of  him,  with  nobody 
to  interrupt,  nobody  to  come  between,  nobody 
but  Paul  and  His  Master  facing  him  and  the 
plan  of  salvation  in  front  of  him,  and  the  heav- 
ens opening  above  him,  and  the  light  stream- 
ing down  upon  him  and  God  speaking  through 
His  saint,  surely  no  man  ever  had  a  better 
chance  of  life  eternal  than  this  man.  Surely, 
my  brother,"  my  sister,  you  cannot  look  in  the 
face  of  God  one  day  and  say,  "  I  should  have 
been  a  Christian  if  I  had  an  opportunity."  You 
cannot  say  that  because  you  have  this  blessed 
hour  in  which  to  yield  to  God.  If  you  never 
had  a  chance  before  you  have  one  now,  and  if 
you  never  had  anybody  to  talk  to  you  about 
these  things  you  have  some  one  now.  You 
cannot  plead  at  the  great  white  throne  that  you 
never  had  a  chance.  Felix  cannot.  Surely  no 
man  ever  had  a  better  preacher  than  Paul,  the 
prince  of  preachers.  There  was  no  trimming 
about  Paul.  There  was  no  stooping  to  suit  his 
people.  He  was  not  afraid  of  the  man.  in  the 
chariot  and  he  did  not  despise  the  man  in  the 


The  Final  Choice  145 

gutter.  Why,  Paul,  glorious  old  Paul,  he  said 
himself,  "  I  determined  to  know  nothing  among 
you  save  Christ  and  Him  crucified."  There  was 
no  mongrel  gospel  with  Paul.  There  was  no 
water  and  milk  gospel  with  Paul.  It  was  the 
pure,  unadulterated,  unchanging,  living  message. 
Surely  you  cannot  say  when  you  get  to  the  white 
throne,  if  you  have  not  a  wedding  garment  on, 
you  cannot  say,  "  Well,  if  I  had  only  heard  the 
pure  gospel  I  should  have  been  saved  "  ?  You 
cannot  say  that ;  you  have  had  it  from  the  pulpit, 
you  have  had  it  from  the  lips  of  your  own  minis- 
ters, you  have  heard  it  till  you  can  go  to  sleep 
under  it.  You  are  hardened  by  the  process  of 
listening  to  it.  For  this  mighty  gospel,  what 
it  does  not  soften  and  weld,  it  hardens.  It  is  the 
savour  of  life  or  of  death.  You  know  it,  and 
you  are  familiar  with  it.  You  have  had  the  gos- 
pel as  faithfully  as  ever  Paul  preached  it. 

Surely  this  man  might  have  been  saved,  for  he 
was  convicted.  He  felt  more  than  he  wanted  to 
feel.  He  trembled,  but,  mark  this — he  trembled, 
but  the  woman  did  not.  That  is  striking.  I 
have  often  seen  two  people  sit  together  under  the 
same  sermon,  and  I  have  seen  one  shake  and 
tremble  and  weep  beneath  the  power  of  God,  and 
I  have  seen  the  other  rebellious  and  hard  and 


146  The  Final  Choice 

hindering ;  I  have  seen  one  want  to  come,  and 
I  have  seen  the  other  pull  him  back.  When  a 
woman  does  set  herself  against  Christ,  she  does. 
I  have  not  been  an  evangelist  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  without  finding  out  that  when  a  woman 
does  come  to  Christ,  she  comes  all  the  way.  I 
believe  this  man  would  have  been  saved,  yea,  I 
know  he  would,  but  for  that  woman.  Felix  trem- 
bled ;  she  did  not.  He  felt,  he  was  convicted,  he 
was  awake,  he  knew,  he  was  concerned,  he  was 
wrought  upon.  Haven't  you  been  there  ?  Is  not 
your  conscience,  my  sister,  my  brother,  with  me 
y  at  this  moment?  Don't  you  feel  your  sin  ;  don't 
you  see  something  of  its  wickedness  ;  don't  you 
realize  something  of  its  damning  power ;  don't 
you  see  how  it  is  spoiling  you,  how  it  is  robbing 
you  of  your  manhood  ;  don't  you  see  how  your 
life  is  embittered  ;  don't  you  see  how  it  is  leading 
you  away  from  God  and  rightness  ?  Don't  you 
see  it  ?  I  know  you  do.  That  is  the  Spirit  at 
work  within  you.  Your  conscience  and  your 
judgment  are  bearing  me  witness.  Don't  you  see 
that  you  can  get  as  far  as  trembling  conviction, 
and  yet  stop  and  refuse  to  take  the  decisive  step  ? 
Why  do  you  not  yield?  I  want  to  push  that 
question  till  I  get  an  answer.  Why  didn't  Felix 
surrender  ?     If  he  heard  the  gospel  from  the  lips 


The  Final  Choice  147 

of  that  faithful  man  and  felt  its  awful  import,  if 
that  stupendous  opportunity  was  his  in  which  he 
might  have  built  a  throne,  why  did  he  take  the 
dungeon?  If  the  hour  was  his  in  which  he 
might  have  set  an  anthem  ringing  around  the 
throne,  why  did  he  forge  the  chain  ?  If  the  hour 
was  his  in  which  he  might  have  decked  the  brow 
of  Emmanuel,  why,  in  the  name  of  everything 
that  is  good,  did  he  grovel  in  the  dust  and  allow 
hell  to  drive  over  him  its  chariots  and  to  grind 
him  to  powder?  Why?  Don't  you  see  the 
damning  effects,  the  deluding  effects,  the  destroy- 
ing effects  of  sin  ?  The  reason  is  given  in  one 
word — sin,  his  own  sin.  Beside  him  sat  another 
man's  wife  with  whom  he  was  living.  Are  you 
surprised  that  Paul  talked  of  righteousness  ? 
How  could  he  talk  of  anything  else  ?  Could  God 
smile  on  that  ?  He  talked  of  righteousness.  I 
should  think  so.  And  Felix  knew  if  he  became 
a  Christian  that  woman  must  go  home  to  her 
husband;  at  any  rate,  she  must  go  from  him. 
He  knew  that,  and  he  looked  at  her,  and  in  that 
look  he  lost  his  soul.  He  said,  "  No,  it  is  not 
convenient.  When  it  is  I  will  call  for  thee." 
But  he  never  did,  he  never  had  another  chance. 
Samson  lost  his  strength  through  a  woman. 
The  daughter  of  Herodias   danced   Herod  into 


148  The  Final  Choice 

the  pit.  Drusilla  was  the  chain  that  bound  this 
man  for  time  and  for  eternity.  "^Vhat  is  binding 
you  ?  What  is  fettering  you  ?  What  is  getting 
you  by  the  heart  and  Hfe?  . /hat  has  gripped 
you  in  its  clutch?  What  is  it?  You  know. 
You  know.  Who  is  it?  You  know,  and  God 
knows.  The  truth  will  out  some  day.  The 
truth  will  out,  for  every  man  has  some  special 
sin.  It  may  not  be  lust  for  a  woman,  but  it  may 
be  lust  for  gold,  it  may  be  lust  for  drink,  it  may 
be  appetite  in  another  form,  it  may  be  ambition, 
which  is  just  as  damning.  What  is  it?  Every 
woman  has  her  own  sin.  It  may  not  be  lust  for 
a  man,  but  it  is  lust  of  some  sort,  and  there  are 
some  women  who  will  sell  their  souls  and  the 
souls  of  their  children  for  dress  and  trinkets. 
May  God  save  you.  Listen — it  is  a  choice  be- 
tween sin  and  hoHness.  It  is  a  tremendous 
choice,  but  there  can  be  no  two  opinions  about 
it,  if  you  look  at  it  wisely  and  well.  It  is  a 
choice  between  the  low  and  the  high,  the 
earthly  and  the  heavenly,  time  and  eternity, 
the  perishable  and  the  imperishable,  the  tinsel 
and  the  real  gold,  the  passing  moment  and 
the  heaven  that  awaits  those  who  will  only  obey. 
Men  and  women,  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
Lord   Almighty,   rise   to   the  occasion.      Don't 


The  Final  Choice  149 

mingle  for  yourselves  the  bitter  drink,  don't  fly 
in  the  face  of  your  eternal  interests.  Don't  fight 
against  God.  Don't  hug  your  sin.  Don't  play 
the  fool — don'-  God  wants  to  save  you,  and 
He  will  save  you.  He  would  have  saved  that 
man  if  he  had  come,  but  he  did  not,  and  because 
he  did  not  God  could  not.  *'  Ye  will  not  come 
unto  Me  that  ye  might  have  life."  "  How  often 
would  I  have  gathered  you  under  My  wing  .  .  . 
and  ye  would  not." 

It  is  not  God's  fault.  If  a  man  goes  to  hell — 
whatever  hell  may  mean,  I  pray  you  may  never 
find  out,  but  whatever  hell  is — I  do  not  know — 
but  whatever  it  is,  if  a  man  goes  there,  it  is  be- 
cause he  will  not  accept  God's  remedy.  You 
cannot  charge  God  with  your  destruction ;  you 
must  charge  it  home  to  your  own  will  in  the 
choice  of  evil,  in  your  own  wicked,  rebellious, 
God-dishonouring,  God-hating,  Christ-rejecting 
life ;  you  must  charge  yourself.  I  cannot  hear 
my  Lord  libelled  without  protest.  Some  of  you 
say,  "  Do  you  think  God  is  a  God  of  love,  to 
send  a  man  to  hell  ?  "  God  does  not  send  him 
there ;  he  sends  himself.  You  don't  go  to  hell 
because  you  are  a  sinner,  but  because  you  refuse 
to  walk  over  the  bridge  that  God  has  built  and 
made  it  possible  for  you  to  go  the  other  way. 


150  The  Final  Choice 

You  refuse  God's  grace ;  you  refuse  the  way  of 
salvation.  God  wants  to  save  you  from  your 
sin,  and  He  will  save  you  now  if  you  will  submit. 
Will  you  give  up  your  sin  ?  You  don't  want 
me  to  name  your  sin.  If  I  did  know  it  I  would 
hold  it  before  you  till  you  loathed  it ;  I  would 
make  you  face  it ;  I  would  hold  it  in  front  of 
you  till  you  ran  away  from  it;  I  would  make 
you  see  your  own  sin,  in  spite  of  yourself,  were 
it  in  my  power,  till  you  yielded  and  gave  your- 
self wholly  to  Jesus  Christ. 

My  brother,  my  sister,  let  this  be  a  time  of 
real  surrender,  when  you  turn  from  the  wicked 
thing,  the  thing  that  God  hates  in  your  life,  the 
thing  that  has  made  you  all  you  are,  the  thing 
that  is  destroying  you  day  by  day.  Turn  from 
that,  and  turn  from  it  now,  and  you  will  hear 
Him  say  to  you  as  you  come,  though  your 
coming  is  faltering,  though  it  is  weak,  if  it  is 
coming,  if  it  is  turning  from  sin,  if  it  is  yielding 
to  God  your  heart,  your  life,  all  there  is,  with  no 
reservation,  the  whole  being,  absolute,  entire,  if 
it  is  a  real  surrender,  you  will  hear  Him  say, 
"  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee  "  ;  and  if  your  ears 
were  a  little  keener,  then  you  would  hear  the 
angels  singing,  "  The  dead  is  alive,  and  the  lost 
is  found." 


IX 

SAVED  AND  UNSAVED 


«*  The  harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  are  not 
saved." — Jer.  8  :  so. 


IX 

SAVED  AND  UNSAVED 

The  two  last  words  in  this  verse  are  those 
which  I  wish  to  speak  to  you  about.  I  will  not 
ask  you  to  follow  me  through  the  textual  wind- 
ings of  these  words,  but  simply  to  think  of  some 
of  the  things  they  suggest.  I  want  you  to  listen, 
you  whom  these  words  specially  describe,  for 
whatever  you  or  I  may  think,  there  are  only  two 
classes  of  people  :  there  are  the  saved  and  there 
are  the  unsaved.  The  people  who  are  really 
Christ's  by  an  intelligent  decision,  surrender,  and 
living,  vital  faith ;  those  who  have  passed  from 
death  unto  life ;  those  who  are  described  by  the 
words  of  the  apostle,  "  There  is  therefore  now  no 
condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ; 
those  who  are  described  by  that  wonderful  word, 
"  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it 
doth  hot  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be;  but  we 
know  that  when  He  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like 
Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is."  Those 
who  are  born  again  and  have  the  witness  within 
153 


154  Saved  and  Unsaved 

that  they  are  accepted  in  the  Beloved;  those 
who  can  say,  with  the  poet  — 

«  Amazing  grace,  'tis  heaven  below 
To  feel  His  blood  applied, 
And  Jesus,  only  Jesus  know. 
My  Jesus  crucified." 

Those  who  can  say  with  Wesley :  — 

«  No  condemnation  now  I  dread  ; 

Jesus,  and  all  in  Him,  is  mine  ! 
Alive  in  Him,  my  living  Head, 

And  clothed  in  righteousness  divine, 
Bold  I  approach  the  eternal  throne. 
And  claim  the  crown,  through  Christ  my  own." 

Those  who  are  hidden  in  Him  by  faith,  and  who 
can  say  with  the  apostle,  "  For  the  law  of  the 
spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free 
from  the  law  of  sin  and  death :  for  what  the  law 
could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak  through  the 
flesh,  God  sending  His  own  Son  in  the  likeness 
of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the 
flesh  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  might  be 
fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but 
after  the  spirit.  For  the  law,"  says  the  apostle, 
"  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free."  There  are 
many  among  those  I  am  addressing  who  know 
what  that  experience  is ;  they  have  come  to  Cal- 
vary by  faith ;  they  have  bathed  His  feet  with 


Saved  and  Unsaved  155 

their  tears,  they  have  wiped  them  with  the  hair 
of  their  head ;  they  have  heard  Him  saying  just 
as  really  and  truly  as  He  said  it  to  the  woman 
who  did  it,  "  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee  " ;  and 
you  came  from  the  Cross  singing,  "  I  will  love 
Him  because  He  first  loved  me."  They  are  those 
among  you — I  say  it  on  the  authority  of  the 
Word  of  God — who  have  passed  from  death  unto 
life,  who  know  Jesus  saves  them,  who  have  con- 
signed themselves  and  handed  themselves  over  to 
be  Christ's  men  and  women ;  they  have  sealed 
the  contract ;  they  are  God's  property,  and  they 
sing,  "  Not  my  own,  but  saved  by  Jesus,  I  am 
His  " ;  my  Hfe  is  His  and  must  flow  along  His 
channels,  my  words  must  be  spoken  as  in  His 
presence,  and  my  all  must  be  done  as  for  eternity. 
There  are  those  who  know  that  they  are  saved. 

"Ye  are  saved  by  grace."  It  is  all  of  free 
grace,  perfect  love  working  on  behalf  of  those 
who  are  perfectly  worthless.  It  is  not  by  works 
of  righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  ac- 
cording to  His  mercy.  No  work  of  our  own 
would  accomplish  this ;  we  are  not  saved  by 
works,  but  we  are  saved  for  works.  You  cannot 
be  saved  by  your  works,  but  you  cannot  be  saved 
long  without  works.     You  cannot  build  a  house 


136  Saved  and  Unsaved 

without  materials,  and  you  cannot  live  a  new  life 
with  an  old  heart ;  you  must  know  Christ  in 
your  own  heart  before  you  can  claim  those 
mighty  words  in  capitals— SAVED  BY  GRACE. 
My  heart  saddens  as  I  think  of  the  multitude 
who  are  not  really  saved.  And  God  knows.  He 
sees  the  innermost  heart.  "  Behold,  thou  desireth 
truth  in  the  inward  parts,"  says  the  Psalmist. 
God  can  turn  the  light  on  in  the  most  dingy  cor- 
ner of  every  heart  and  life,  and  though  there 
may  be  the  profession  and  the  cloak  of  religion 
and  the  outward  garb,  going  to  church,  hymn- 
singing,  Bible-reading,  and  all  these  things,  yet 
the  heart  itself  may  be  like  a  cage  of  unclean 
birds  ;  though  the  outward  platter  be  clean,  there 
may  be  rottenness  and  corruption  within.  That 
was  the  charge  our  Lord  brought  against  the 
people  who  thought  themselves  saved  and  who 
did  not  want  the  Light  when  it  came,  but  re- 
jected it.  Some  of  you  are  in  the  same  state  ; 
indeed,  you  have  got  angry  with  me  for  telling 
you  the  truth.  You  would  rather  be  left  alone  ; 
you  don't  thank  me  nor  anybody  else  for  telling 
you  the  truth,  and  the  devil  within  you  cries  out, 
as  it  did  to  the  Son  of  God,  "  Let  us  alone,  tor- 
ment us  not."     And  that  is  the  sad  part  of  it  to 


Saved  and  Unsaved  157 

me,  that  here  in  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury, with  hght,  with  education,  with  respectabil- 
ity, with  church-going,  and  a  sort  of  sentimental 
concern  for  all  these  things,  that  you  should  lis- 
ten to  me,  while  on  your  poor  scared  conscience, 
on  your  poor,  worthless  and  wasted  life,  and  even 
church-going  respectable  life,  there  is  written,  as 
by  the  finger  of  God,  those  two  words  on  you — 
on  you,  my  brother,  and  on  you,  my  sister, 
though  you  were  at  church  last  Sunday — Not 
Saved ;  and  the  ink  in  which  they  are  written 
was  distilled  by  your  own  iniquity,  which  makes 
it  all  the  blacker. 

Yet  you  know  it  need  not  have  been  so ;  you 
might  have  been  saved.  Some  of  you  come 
from  the  best  homes ;  you  had  the  best  training 
possible.  Love  !  yes,  the  tenderness  of  a  mother's 
love,  and  all  that  that  means ;  a  father's  love,  and 
all  that  that  means ;  the  sweetest  and  most  beau- 
tiful surroundings  were  yours ;  you  were  born, 
cradledj  and  nurtured  in  a  home  filled  with  good- 
ness, and  in  your  veins  there  flows  the  moral 
blood,  the  moral  momentum — the  result  of  a 
godly  ancestry;  in  your  veins  there  flows — in 
some  of  you — the  blood  of  saints  and  martyrs ; 
and    yet   you    are   not   saved.     Think   of  your 


158  Saved  and  Unsaved 

opportunities,  of  your  Sunday-school  days,  your 
church  days.  You  have  been  Hfted  to  the  gates 
of  gold  with  the  superior  weight  of  advanced 
opportunity.  You  cannot  plead  ignorance  at 
the  bar  of  God ;  the  very  angels  would  cry  out 
against  you,  and  say,  "  We  flew  to  that  man  on 
errands  of  mercy  " ;  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the 
stars  would  cry  out ;  the  rocks,  the  streams,  and 
all  nature  would  join  in  the  chorus,  "  Away  with 
him,  for  he  knew  better."  If  you  had  been  born 
in  a  gipsy  tent  where  there  was  no  Bible  I  could 
pity  you,  but  you  come  from  homes  where  a 
Bible  was  in  every  room,  where  you  were  just 
saturated  with  a  mother's  influence.  It  might 
have  been  different;  it  ought  to  have  been,  for 
you  had  the  hght — light  enough  to  save  a 
nation.  Think  of  it ;  think  of  it.  God  help  us 
to  think !  Think  of  all  that  has  been  lavished 
on  you,  of  all  the  hopes  that  have  been  centred 
and  focused  upon  you ;  think  of  all  that  God  has 
done  for  you,  of  the  trouble  He  has  taken,  of  the 
patience  with  which  He  has  borne  with  you. 
Think  of  the  mercy  He  has  showed  you,  of  all 
the  life  given  to  you ;  and  remember  He  has 
spared  you  for  one  purpose — to  save  you,  and 
somehow  or  other  you  have  managed  to  thwart 


Saved  and  Unsaved  159 

and  frustrate  His  designs  until  to-day.  Not 
saved — and  salvation  cost  so  much,  purchased 
so  dearly.  If  you  want  to  know  how  dearly,  go 
a  long  way  back.  Sin  is  old,  but  the  Blood  is 
older :  God  had  a  Lamb  slain  before  the  founda- 
tions of  the  world ;  and  if  you  want  to  know  how 
much  it  cost  God  to  save  you,  go  back  to  the 
beginning,  away  back  over  the  mighty  sea  of 
time;  and  if  that  is  too  far  go  to  Calvary,  to 
Bethlehem,  to  Nazareth,  to  Gethsemane.  Did 
you  ever  think  of  it  ?  It  was  no  sudden  sorrow 
that  overtook  Him  ;  it  was  a  long-looked-for  and 
anticipated  agony.  When  He  worked  on  that 
carpenter's  bench  and  took  hold  of  that  piece  of 
timber.  He  must  have  thought  of  the  piece  that 
would  be  a  cross  upon  which  He  would  hang. 
And  when  He  took  up  that  hammer,  don't  you 
suppose  He  thought  of  another  hammer  that 
would  strike  Him ;  and  when  He  handled  those 
nails,  don't  you  think  there  were  other  nails  in 
His  mind  that  would  pierce  His  hands  and  feet  ? 
And  when  He  took  the  knots  out  of  that  timber, 
don't  you  think  they  would  remind  Him  of  the 
thorns  that  would  pierce  His  lovely  brow  ?  Ah, 
He  must  have  thought  of  it;  He  knew  it  all; 
yet  He  faced  it  all,  and  did  not  turn  to  the  right 


i6o  Saved  and  Unsaved 

nor  to  the  left.  When  His  loved  ones  tried  to 
prevent  Him  going  to  that  bloody  tree,  He  set 
them  back  and  set  His  face  towards  Calvary. 
Born  in  another  man's  stable ;  buried  in  another 
man's  grave;  His  first  pillow,  straw,  and  His 
last,  a  crown  of  thorns ;  His  first  companions, 
cattle,  and  His  last,  thieves;  His  first  resting- 
place,  somebody  else's  manger,  and  His  last, 
somebody  else's  cross ;  and  it  was  for  me,  for 
you.  Have  you  ever  thanked  Him  ?  Have  you 
ever  gone  on  your  knees  and  showed  your  grate- 
fulness ?  You  have  cursed  Him,  taken  His  name 
in  vain,  rejected  Him  and  spurned  Him,  and 
spurned  His  followers  and  ridiculed  or  criticised 
unmercifully,  but  you  have  never  thanked  Jesus. 
That  is  the  damning  sin — ingratitude.  Don't 
forget !  My  brother,  there  is  nothing  that  has 
cost  God  so  much  as  this,  and  yet  there  is  noth- 
ing which  you  have  treated  with  such  contempt. 
Don't  be  afraid  of  the  Cross ;  I  know  it  is  your 
humiliation,  but  it  is  also  your  salvation.  I 
know  it  shows  up  your  darkness  and  your  sin, 
but  it  is  the  key  which  unlocks  the  gates  of  gold 
and  invites  everybody  to  come  in  and  share  the 
bounties  of  God's  love.  I  would  rather  be  Gipsy 
Smith  this  side  of  the  Cross  than  Adam  on  the 


Saved  and  Unsaved  l6l 

other  side.  If  we  sin  we  have  an  Advocate  with 
the  Father.  They  used  to  go  to  the  Cross  to 
die,  now  they  go  to  hve ;  it  used  to  be  the  place 
of  death,  but  now  it  is  the  place  of  life.  Flash- 
ing out  from  that  Cross  with  its  outstretched 
arms  inviting  the  world,  I  hear  words — words 
sweeter  than  any  music  the  world  has  ever 
Hstened  to — crying,  *'  Him  that  cometh  unto  Me, 
I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  God  help  you  to 
come ! 

Think  of  it  in  this  light :  Not  saved,  and  salva- 
tion so  important.  If  your  sin  was  base  and  black 
enough,  cruel  enough  to  tear  Jesus  from  the 
Throne  and  nail  Him  to  the  accursed  tree — and 
He  was  obedient  even  unto  death — what  will 
your  sin  do  with  you  if  you  do  not  get  rid  of  it  ? 
It  will  have  no  mercy.  Unless  you  are  saved 
according  to  God's  plan,  you  are  lost ;  there  is  no 
other  Name,  no  other  Way,  no  other  Salvation, 
and  if  you  miss  this,  you  miss  all ;  your  salvation 
depends  upon  that  Cross ;  your  emancipation 
depends  on  that  surrender ;  your  hope  for  this 
life  and  for  the  life  to  come  hangs  on  that  Cross. 
Pull  that  down  and  you  are  doomed ;  the  world 
has  absolutely  nothing  instead  to  offer  you.  Turn 
your  back  on  this,  and  you  are  lost  forever. 


l62  Saved  and  Unsaved 

Think  of  it  in  this  hght :  Not  saved,  and  your 
chances  of  being  saved  going,  passing  away. 
Some  of  you  have  less  chance  now  than  you  ever 
had  in  your  life,  and  if  you  miss  this  opportunity 
you  may  never  have  another ;  you  can  never  tell 
how  near  Death  may  not  be ;  and  if  you  let  this 
chance  go  by,  God  help  you,  for  it  may  be  your 
last  on  earth.  My  brother,  my  sister,  be  saved 
now ;  Jesus  calls  and  wants  to  save  you,  but  even 
He  cannot  save  you  against  your  will.  He  has 
seen  your  heart  moved  and  made  tender,  and 
you  have  gone  away  unsaved.  He  has  had  to 
say,  "  Ye  would  not  come  unto  Me  that  ye  might 
have  life."  If  I  could  save  you,  I  would ;  if  my 
arms  were  strong  and  long  enough  I  would  bear 
you  all  to  Jesus.  If  one  word  of  mine  could  do 
it,  I  would  speak  it ;  if  anything  I  could  do  would 
bring  the  unsaved  gathering  to  my  Lord,  how 
gladly  would  I  work  a  miracle  !  But  it  is  be- 
yond me,  and  there  are  some  things  Jesus  can- 
not do ;  and  one  of  them  is  that  He  cannot  save 
a  soul  against  its  will ;  and  unless  some  of  you 
make  haste  He  will  have  to  tell  you  some  day 
that  He  would  have  saved  you,  but  you  thwarted 
Him;  He  longed  to  do  it,  but  you  would  not 
have  it ;  you  resisted  to  the  bitter  end. 


Saved  and  Unsaved  163 

When  my  father  was  a  young  man,  a  band  of 
our  people,  the  gipsies,  fifty  or  more  of  them, 
had  been  picking  a  field  of  hops  on  a  farm  near 
Tunbridge.  Some  of  you  may  be  old  enough  to 
remember  it,  for  it  is  a  matter  of  history,  and  if 
you  have  ever  occasion  to  visit  Tunbridge,  ask 
to  see  the  monument  they  erected  to  my  people. 
These  gipsies  had  finished  one  field,  and  were 
crossing  to  another  field  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Medway.  They  mounted  the  wagon — men, 
women,  and  children — and  away  the  horses 
started,  and  with  jokes,  songs,  and  laughter 
made  merry  music  to  the  other  toilers  in  the  fields 
as  they  passed.  As  they  turned  a  bend  in  the 
lane  they  saw  the  old  rotten  wooden  bridge  over 
which  they  hoped  to  pass  safely.  The  water 
was  in  flood  and  flowing  over  the  roadway,  and 
when  the  women  saw  it  they  were  frightened, 
and  some  of  them  screamed — for  gipsy  women 
are  only  like  other  women — and  before  the 
drivers  could  stop  the  horses,  startled  by  the 
screams,  ran  away,  crashing  into  the  sides  of  the 
old  structure,  and  instantly  they  were  all  thrown 
into  the  flowing  river  current.  A  brave  young 
gipsy  seized  one  of  the  horses  drifting  down,  and 
watched  for  one  who  was  dearer  to  him  than  any 


164  Saved  and  Unsaved 

one  in  the  world — his  mother — and  the  gipsy- 
boy  loves  his  mother.  Presently  he  saw  her, 
and  after  many  struggles  he  reached  her.  But 
she  seized  him  in  such  a  way  that  he  could  not 
manage  to  save  her,  and  at  last  she  sank.  When 
the  day  of  the  funeral  came  there  were  thirty- 
nine  gipsies  buried,  and  people  gathered  from  all 
the  countryside  to  show  their  sympathy  with 
these  poor  people.  Forgetting  the  crowd  and 
the  clergyman,  the  poor  lad  crept  down  into  the 
trench  which  contained  the  coffins,  and,  kneehng 
beside  his  mother's,  he  cried :  '*  Mother,  mother, 
I  tried  to  save  you ;  I  did  all  a  man  could  do  to 
save  you,  but  you  would  not  let  me."  And  if 
some  of  you  don't  mind,  Gipsy  Smith  will  have 
to  cry  at  the  Bar  of  God,  "  I  did  all  a  man  could 
do  to  save  you,  but  you  would  not  let  me  " ;  and 
if  you  don't  mind,  Jesus  Christ  will  have  to  say, 
"  I  did  all  a  God  could  do  to  save  you,  but  you 
would  not  let  Me." 

"  O  be  saved,  His  grace  is  free ; 
O  be  saved,  He  died  for  thee." 


X 

GLEANING  FOR  GOD 


«  Now  Peter  and  John  went  up  to  the  temple  at  the  hour  of 
prayer." — Actsj  :  i. 


GLEANING  FOR  GOD 

A   TALK   TO    CHRISTIAN   WORKERS 

If  Peter  and  John  had  been  absent  from  that 
particular  prayer-meeting  I  think  they  might 
have  been  excused,  especially  if  you  think  for  a 
moment  of  the  wonderful  times  through  which 
they  had  just  passed.  For  if  ever  men  in  the 
world  had  their  minds  and  hearts  crowded  with 
food  for  reflection,  with  something  to  take  up 
their  mind  and  occupy  their  attention,  these  men 
had.  Peter  and  John  had  just  witnessed  the  cru- 
cifixion ;  they  had  just  witnessed  the  resurrec- 
tion ;  they  had  just  witnessed  the  ascension ;  they 
had  just  witnessed  the  fulfiUing  of  the  promise, 
"  I  will  pour  out  My  Spirit  upon  all  flesh."  They 
now  knew,  as  they  never  did  know,  never  could 
have  known  without  that  experience,  what  Jesus 
meant  when  He  said,  "  It  is  expedient  for  you 
that  I  go  away,  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Com- 
forter will  not  come ;  and  when  He  is  come.  He 
shall  abide  with  you  forever."  They  now  knew 
167 


1 68  Gleaning  for  God 

something  of  what  Jesus  meant  when  He  said, 
"  Tarry  at  Jerusalem  until  ye  receive  the  promise 
of  the  Father."  They  now  knew  something  of 
what  He  meant  when  He  said,  "  Ye  shall  receive 
power  after  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you." 
They  had  waited  in  that  upper  room  in  obedient 
prayer,  believing  prayer.  They  were  all  there, 
and  they  were  all  of  one  mind  and  of  one  heart, 
and  they  waited  till  the  dawn  of  Pentecost  kissed 
their  brow  and  bathed  their  hearts  and  filled  their 
spirits. 

When  it  was  noised  abroad  that  this  mighty 
indwelling,  this  reinforcement,  this  tide,  this  in- 
definable something  had  taken  possession  of  these 
men,  when  it  was  noised  abroad  in  the  city,  you 
know  the  result.  The  people  flocked  in  their 
thousands,  and  when  they  looked  at  these  men 
they  could  not  understand  it.  They  saw  some- 
thing in  them  that  they  had  never  seen  before. 
They  felt  something  about  them  which  they  had 
never  felt  before.  They  were  changed  ;  marvel- 
lously changed.  They  were  bold,  such  boldness 
as  they  had  never  witnessed.  They  took  knowl- 
edge of  their  boldness,  and  their  speaking  moved 
them  and  surprised  them,  for  they  all  heard  them 
speak  in  their  own  tongue,  wherein  they  were 


Gleaning  for  God  169 

born,  and  yet  they  were  unlearned  and  ignorant 
men.  And  they  said,  "  What  meaneth  this  ? 
This  is  what  it  means.  They  are  not  themselves  j 
they  are  not  responsible;  they  are  drunk."  I 
wonder  if  anybody  would  ever  come  to  your 
quiet,  sedate,  orthodox,  refined,  smooth,  poetic, 
beautiful  service  and  say,  "  You  are  drunk." 
I  wonder  if  anybody  would  ever  come  up  into 
your  church  and  look  at  your  minister  and  look 
at  your  professing  Christians  and  say,  "  They  are 
all  drunk  together."  The  fact  is,  we  are  too 
sober.  That  is  what  we  are  trying  to  avoid.  We 
do  not  want  people  to  say  that ;  we  want  them 
to  go  away  and  say,  "  That  is  just  beautiful." 
The  people  will  not  say  it  is  just  beautiful  if  we 
are  faithful.  We  want  people  to  go  away  and 
say,  "  Oh,  I  did  enjoy  that !  "  I  never  heard  of 
anybody  enjoying  a  surgical  operation,  and  that 
is  what  every  sermon  ought  to  be.  It  ought  to 
be  a  piercing  to  the  quick.  It  ought  to  be  a  stir- 
ring of  the  man  within.  It  ought  to  be  the  un- 
doing of  things  and  making  us  feel  and  realize 
what  we  are  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God. 

"  They  are  drunk,"  that  is  what  they  said. 
Does  not  that  piece  up  with  what  they  said  of 
the  Lord  ?     They  said  His  disciples  were  drunk  J 


lyo  Gleaning  for  God 

they  said  of  Him,  "  You  must  excuse  Him  to-day, 
He  is  not  all  there,  He  is  beside  Himself,"  prac- 
tically, "  Jesus  is  insane,"  because  He  forgot  to 
eat  bread,  because  He  forgot  all  those  who  had 
natural  claims  and  ties  upon  Him.  Because  in 
the  service  of  God,  in  the  glorying  of  His  father 
and  in  the  doing  of  His  will,  and  in  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  world,  He  tarried  not  nor  turned  not 
to  the  right  nor  to  the  left  until  all  might  be  ac- 
complished, they  said,  "  He  is  beside  Himself." 
I  wonder  if  anybody  in  the  world  ever  got  the 
impression  that  you  were  insane ;  you  had  got  so 
much  God,  so  much  religion,  so  much  of  the 
Spirit  of  Jesus  ;  you  were  so  unselfish,  so  Christ- 
like, so  Calvary-possessed  that  they  said  you 
were  insane  ?     The  fact  is,  we  are  all  too  sane. 

They  said,  "  These  men  are  drunk  with  new 
wine."  "  No,"  said  Peter,  for  it  is  astonishing 
how  'cute  at  hearing  Holy  Ghost-filled  people 
are — "  no,"  he  said,  "  we  are  not  drunk.  You 
are  wrong.  We  are  not  drunk,  as  ye  suppose. 
We  are  more  sober  than  you  think.  But  listen  : 
this  that  you  see,  this  that  you  hear,  this  mighty 
movement  that  you  are  feeling,  this  lightning 
flash,  this  illumination,  this  arrest  of  the  atten- 
tion, this  evicting  of  sin,  this  crying  for  God,  it 


Gleaning  for  God  17 1 

is  not  wine.     This  is  a  fulfillment  of  the  promise, 
'  I  will  pour  out  My  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.' " 

Now,  listen :  if  that  first  httle  picture  of  the 
early  Church  that  you  have  in  this  chapter,  or 
the  preceding  chapter,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
if  that  was  God's  ideal  church,  will  you  paint 
that  picture  as  it  was,  and  as  it  ought  to  be,  and 
will  you  paint  the  picture  of  the  Church  of  God, 
so  called,  to-day,  and  will  you  put  the  two  side 
by  side,  and  dare  any  man  in  his  sane  mind  and 
in  his  sane  moments  say  this  is  as  that  ?  Dare 
any  man  say  that  the  Church  to-day — and  when 
I  speak  of  the  Church  I  use  the  word  in  the 
sense  that  the  Bible  ufees  it — dare  any  man  say 
the  Church  to-day  is  that  ?  I  think  if  we  are 
honest  we  shall  say  that  we  have  fallen  from 
grace.  May  God  help  us  to  get  back  again  ! 
You  cannot  read  your  Bible,  you  cannot  read 
these  Acts  of  the  Spirit  through  the  Apostles, 
you  cannot  read  of  these  wonderful  days  of  the 
first  Church  without  feeling,  "  If  that  is  God's 
ideal,  where  are  we  ?  "  And  do  not  blame  any- 
body, because  we  are  part  of  the  society.  The 
Church  of  God  is  made  up  of  units,  and  you  and 
I  are  units  of  that  great  Church,  and  we  are  re- 
sponsible in  our  degree  and  in  our  capacity  and 


172  Gleaning  for  God 

according  to  our  light,  we  are  responsible  for  the 
general  condition  of  things.  The  Lord  open  our 
eyes  that  we  may  see  as  these  men  saw. 

When  a  mighty  Spirit  came  and  took  posses- 
sion of  them,  and  Peter  had  spoken  a  little  bit, 
three  thousand  people  fell  and  cried  for  mercy. 
That  was  a  wonderful  day's  work,  was  it  not  ? 
Three  thousand  conversions  in  a  day!  And 
then  they  say  sometimes,  "  You  must  not  count 
converts."  Well,  they  counted  them  this  time, 
and  Jesus  says  there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one ; 
if  He  counts  one  He  counts  three  thousand. 
And  on  the  heels  of  that  wonderful  ingathering 
of  souls,  three  thousand  of  them,  they  had  a 
big  collection.  So  you  see  the  collection  is  as 
religious  as  getting  people  converted.  Don't 
ever  turn  blue  when  the  collection  is  made  or 
announced,  because  the  collection  is  as  religious 
as  Calvary,  and  until  you  know  how  to  give  you 
do  not  know  what  Calvary  means.  The  collec- 
tion is  scriptural,  and  when  a  man  puts  his 
check -book  on  God's  altar  and  says,  "  Here, 
Lord,  here  is  my  name ;  fill  in  that  check  just 
as  you  like ;  you  know  how  much  I  can  afford 
and  you  know  how  much  I  can  give ;  fill  it  in  for 
what  you  like,"  you  may  know  he  is  not  far  from 


Gleaning  for  God  173 

the  kingdom.  Giving  means  grace,  and  when  a 
man  gets  from  God  he  must  give  to  God. 

Now,  if  Peter  and  John  had  come  together 
and  said,  "  Look  here,  brethren,  we  liave  had  all 
these  wonderful  experiences  and  we  have  seen 
three  thousand  people  converted,  and  we  have 
so  many  converts  to  look  after  and  to  form  into 

a  Church "     I  can  believe  that  this  was  not 

neglected  by  Peter  and  John,  because  as  a  rule 
the  Lord  knows  the  people  with  whom  He  can 
trust  three  thousand  converts ;  the  Lord  knows 
the  Church  nowadays  where  He  can  trust  new- 
born babes.  If  the  Lord  gave  some  Churches 
that  I  could  name  new-born  babes  they  would 
have  to  put  out  their  nursing,  for  they  have 
neither  food  nor  clothes  for  them,  and  no  at- 
mosphere that  they  could  breathe.  The  Lord 
knows  the  people  He  can  trustVith^  converts. 
I  can  believe  Peter  and  John  did  just  exactly 
what  I  am  saying  they  did — all  that  men  could 
do  to  conserve  what  they  had  captured.  If  Peter 
and  John  had  got  together  and  said,  "  Now,  look 
here,  there  is  all  this  collection  to  be  invested  and 
stored,  and  taken  great  care  of ;  all  our  Church 
coffers  are  full,  we  must  have  committees  and 
trustees  and  all  the  rest  of  it,"  that  would  not  be 


174  Gleaning  for  God 

neglected  either,  we  know.  I  am  sure  Peter  and 
John  did  not  handle  it,  because  a  Httle  later  they 
had  none.  Now,  fancy  Peter  and  John,  with  the 
cross  in  their  view,  with  the  resurrection  shining 
Hke  a  star  in  their  sky,  with  the  ascension  fresh 
in  their  memory,  with  this  mighty  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  upon  their  lives,  and  the  cry  of  three 
thousand  souls  in  their  ears.  And  yet  Peter  and 
John,  who  saw  all  that  in  the  morning,  could  not 
stay  away  from  the  week-night  prayer-meeting, 
and  therein  hes  the  power  of  their  victory.  You 
let  me  see  the  week-night  prayer-meeting  of  any 
Church  in  your  neighbourhood,  and  I  will  gauge 
its  spiritual  life.  The  week-night  prayer-meet- 
ing is  the  spiritual  thermometer  of  any  Church, 
and  if  you  will  tell  me  how  often  you  go  to  a 
week-night  prayer-meeting  I  will  tell  you  where 
you  are,  and  if  you  will  let  me  hear  you  pray  in 
pubhc,  and  give  me  a  chance  to  put  my  finger 
on  your  spiritual  pulse,  I  will  diagnose  your  spir- 
itual life.  There  never  was  a  day  in  the  history 
of  the  world  when  the  Church  was  so  rich  in 
many  ways  as  she  is  to-day.  We  never  had  such 
magnificent  preaching  as  we  have  to-day.  We 
never  had  such  a  multitude  of  splendid  preachers 
as  we  have  to-day.    There  have  been  times  when 


Gleaning  for  God  175 

we  have  had  fewer  great  preachers,  and  they 
stood  out  Hke  mountain-tops,  but  the  average 
man  to-day  is  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Son 
of  God  full  and  free.  There  never  was  a  day 
when  we  had  such  magnificent  church  buildings 
as  we  have  to-day.  There  never  was  a  time 
when  men  were  putting  their  hands  deeper  in 
their  pockets  to  give  their  gold  to  the  cause  of 
God  as  they  are  doing  to-day.  There  never  was 
a  day  when  you  had  such  magnificent  singing, 
Church  singing — and  do  not  think  I  am  down  on 
music,  because  I  learned  my  music  from  God's 
choirs  in  feathers  :  the  thrush,  the  nightingale, 
the  skylark,  the  linnet.  When  God's  choirs  be- 
gin to  sing  everybody  else  must  be  silent.  I  do 
not  mean  vocal  gymnastics,  either,  I  mean  sing- 
ing— singing.  There  never  was  a  day  when  the 
Church  had  such  magnificent  singing  as  she  has 
to-day.  There  never  was  a  day  when  the  Church 
of  God  was  giving  so  much  to  save  the  masses  as 
she  is  doing  to-day.  Why,  you  remember,  and 
so  do  I,  ten  or  twelve  or  twenty  years  ago  the 
mission-room  was  in  a  back  street,  a  Httle  low- 
ceilinged  place,  if  it  was  not  down  in  a  cellar, 
with  the  windows  broken,  and  the  forms  all  crazy 
and  wanted  mending,  an  old  asthmatical  cabinet 


176  Gleaning  for  God 

organ  in  a  corner  with  one  pedal  gone,  and 
twenty  or  thirty  young  ragged  urchins  running 
about,  and  two  or  three  young  ladies  to  keep 
them  quiet.  And  if  you  had  anybody  whom  you 
had  to  let  preach  somewhere,  and  you  did  not 
want  him  in  the  Churches,  somebody  like  Gipsy 
Smith,  you  sent  him  to  the  mission-room.  And 
in  the  school  of  the  big  church,  if  you  had  a  set 
of  old  hymn-books  or  Bibles  that  you  could  no 
longer  go  on  with — books  with  half  the  pages 
missing — and  an  old  instrument  that  you  could 
manage  with  no  longer,  somebody  got  up  and 
asked,  "  What  shall  we  do  with  the  old  one  ? " 
And  some  economic  brother  said,  "  Oh,  send 
it  to  the  mission-room,"  and  you  expected  to 
convert  the  slums  by  that  cheap  method.  You 
have  changed  all  that,  thank  God.  You  are 
spending  thousands  upon  thousands  on  mission- 
halls,  and  you  are  giving  your  grandest  instru- 
ments, your  best  singers,  and  your  mightiest 
preachers  to  reaching  the  masses.  All  that  is 
changed,  and  some  of  us  have  seen  it  changed. 
I  wish  we  could  change  our  prayer-meetings  too. 
The  weak  spot  in  the  Church  of  God  is  its 
prayer-meetings.  You  can  crowd  your  school- 
rooms with  entertainments,  you  can  crowd  them 


Gleaning  for  God  177 

with  dramatic  performances — and  some  of  our 
Churches  have  them.  I  wish  I  could  have  my 
way  with  such  churches.  I  would  either  convert 
the  folk  in  them  or  I  would  set  fire  to  the  build- 
ings. I  would  not  allow  God's  house  to  be  dese- 
crated by  worldly  methods.  You  cannot  save 
humanity  with  the  devil's  tools.  You  can  crowd 
your  churches  with  worldly  things,  but  try  to 
get  the  people  to  a  prayer-meeting,  they  have 
got  asthma,  they  have  got  a  cold,  they  cannot 
come  out  at  night.  Some  society  leader  invites 
them  to  dinner,  and  you  hear  nothing  about  the 
cold  or  the  asthma,  and  they  can  go  out  in  a 
dress  too  short  at  the  top  and  too  long  at  the 
bottom.  Is  it  true  ?  Is  that  a  fancy  picture  ? 
Listen — we  are  playing  at  religion.  We  are 
playing  at  it,  the  Lord  help  us  to  love  it. 

These  men  went  to  the  prayer-meeting,  and  I 
want  you  to  see  that  if  the  Church  is  to  do  any- 
thing  in  any  neighbourhood  for  Jesus  Christ  she 
must  put  her  prayer-life  right.  There  is  no  sub- 
stitute for  prayer.  Get  all  the  learning,  get  all 
the  culture,  get  all  the  gifts  and  all  the  grace,  all 
the  harmony  and  all  the  poetry,  all  the  archi- 
tecture and  all  the  political  and  social  influ- 
ence, and   grapple  with  it  all  and  consecrate  it 


lyS  Gleaning  for  God 

at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  but  remember  there  is  no 
substitute  for  prayer.  Peter  and  John  went  up 
to  the  house  of  prayer  at  the  time  appointed. 
Do  you  go  to  the  prayer-meeting  ?  It  is  a  poor 
Church  that  does  not  know  how  to  pray.  Where 
are  our  heads  of  famihes  on  prayer-meeting  night, 
where  are  our  business  men  on  prayer-meeting 
night,  where  are  our  Sunday-school  teachers  and 
superintendents,  our  choir  leaders,  on  prayer- 
meeting  nights  ?  Listen,  men  and  women ;  all 
the  rest  will  not  count  for  a  row  of  pins,  not  so 
much,  for  there  is  not  as  much  point  about 
what  you  do.  It  will  amount  to  nothing  if  you 
do  not  pray.  You  may  preach  till  doomsday  to 
your  children,  and  your  servants,  and  to  the 
people  you  have  influence  over  about  going  to 
church;  when  it  is  prayer-meellng  night,  and 
they  know  you  could  go  and  you  do  not  go,  and 
that  you  have  no  desire  to  go,  all  your  preach- 
ing is  of  no  use.     It  is  the  practicing  that  tells. 

These  men  went  to  a  prayer-meeting.  And 
please  remember  it  was  Peter  and  John  who  were 
going  together.  Peter  was  not  John,  and  John 
was  not  Peter.  They  were  two  opposites. 
They  were  as  wide  apart  as  men  could  be  by 
disposition  and  in  thought,  but  they  went  to- 


Gleaning  for  God  179 

gether.  And  it  is  getting  Peter  and  John  to- 
gether at  the  prayer  meeting  that  brings  victory. 
It  may  be  that  there  are  two  men  in  your  Church, 
if  you  could  only  get  them  on  their  knees  at  the 
prayer- meeting  you  will  have  a  revival.  It  may 
be  two  women.  I  mean  those  people  who  have 
not  spoken  to  each  other  lately.  They  are  the 
two  I  mean.  If  you  could  only  get  them  to- 
gether at  the  prayer-meeting  what  a  glad  day 
it  would  be  for  the  minister  and  for  the  congrega- 
tion! If  you  could  only  get  these  people  to- 
gether !  Well,  you  say,  they  do  come  occa- 
sionally. Yes,  I  know,  one  in  this  corner  and 
one  in  that  corner.  Both  will  pray,  and  they 
will  pray  at  one  another.  Have  you  ever  heard 
it?  Have  you  ever  noticed  five  or  six  people  in 
a  prayer-meeting  in  a  room  ?  They  are  as  far 
apart  as  the  walls  will  let  them  get,  and  they  are 
all  saying,  "  Where  two  or  three  are  met  to- 
gether," and  if  the  walls  were  another  mile  apart 
they  would  be  off.  I  do  not  know  whether  you 
see  these  things.  They  make  me  feel — well,  I 
cannot  help  seeing  them,  these  two  men. 
Brother,  find  your  Peter,  will  you?  That 
would  be  a  revival.  Find  your  John,  that 
would  be  a  revival.     Go  and  shake  hands  with 


i8o  Gleaning  for  God 

the  man  you  have  not  spoken  to  lately,  shake 
hands  with  the  woman  you  have  not  been 
on  friendly  terms  with.  That  is  what  I  mean 
by  getting  together. 

In  a  large  Church  I  made  that  statement  not 
long  ago.  At  the  close  I  wanted  to  speak  to  one 
of  the  officials  when  he  came  into  the  vestry  for 
his  hat,  and  I  said,  "  Will  you  wait  a  minute,  I 
want  to  speak  to  you  ?  "  He  said,  "  Don't  stop 
me  now,  I  am  in  a  hurry."  I  said,  "  What  is  the 
matter  ?  "  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  am  going  to  do 
just  what  you  have  told  me."  I  said,  "  What  is 
that?"  He  said,  "  I  am  going  to  speak  to  a 
brother  office-bearer  that  I  have  not  spoken  to 
for  five  years,  and  it  is  all  my  fault,  and  while 
this  Divine  impulse  is  upon  me  I  will  do  it  be- 
fore I  get  from  it.  I  am  going  to  find  my 
Peter."  And  he  had  got  him  in  a  front  pew  at 
night  where  everybody  in  that  crowded  church 
could  see  him,  and  he  wanted  to  rise  and  sing, 
"  Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 
The  spirit  of  strife  between  those  two  men  had 
torn  the  Church  to  shreds.  You  find  your  Peter, 
find  your  John.  Peter  and  John  went  together. 
It  is  a  good  thing  for  you  Christians  of  all  de- 
nominations to  mix  up  a  little.     You  have  been 


Gleaning  for  God  l8i 

living  too  far  apart;  and  the  nearer  we  get  to 
Christ,  the  closer  we  shall  get  to  each  other. 
We  have  to  live  together  when  we  get  to  heaven. 
Some  of  us  had  better  learn  how  down  here. 
All  that  is  beautiful  is  together.  Do  not  forget 
it.     They  went  together  at  the  hour  of  prayer. 

Now,  I  want  you  to  notice  this,  that  Peter  and 
John  could  be  heard.  I  know  they  would  when 
they  said  their  prayers  on  their  knees.  They 
would  be  heard  ;  I  w^ill  tell  you  why.  They  hved 
their  prayer.  If  you  want  the  Lord  to  hear  you 
say  "  Our  Father "  on  your  knees  you  live  our 
Father  on  your  feet.  If  you- want  the  Lord  to 
hear  you  when  you  get  into  the  temple,  you  hear 
somebody  else's  prayer  before  you  get  into  the 
temple.  If  you  want  the  Lord  to  see  you  in  the 
temple,  see  somebody  who  needs  you  before  you 
get  to  the  temple.  If  you  want  the  Lord  to  put 
His  hand  on  you  in  the  temple,  put  your  hand 
on  some  one  before  you  reach  the  temple. 
These  men  started  a  little  bit  earlier,  and  gained 
a  little  bit  of  extra  time  on  the  way,  to  look  out 
for  some  one  they  could  find  to  take  with  them 
into  their  pew.  I  wonder  how  many  of  us  do 
that  ?  I  wonder  if  any  of  you  ever  start  ten  min- 
utes earlier  on  Sunday  morning.     I  wonder  if 


i82  Gleaning  for  God 

you  do  ever  see  a  poor  cripple  outside,  paralyzed, 
crippled,  handicapped,  demoralized,  degraded, 
cursed  by  sin  ;  I  wonder  if  you  ever  take  time  to 
speak  to  that  person  and  say, "  Look  here,  I  have 
a  book  and  I  have  a  seat,  and  you  come  and  sit 
with  me ;  come  along."  For  there  are  lots  of 
people  who  will  never  come  to  church  till  they 
are  carried.  Do  not  forget  that.  This  man 
would  not  have  been  at  the  door  if  he  had  not 
been  carried  there.  Somebody  loved  him,  some- 
body cared  for  him ;  he  was  lifted  to  that  spot, 
and  when  Peter  and  John  came  along  they  saw 
him.  Yes,  listen :  these  are  the  men  that  God 
can  trust  with  a  bit  of  victory.  They  had  eyes 
for  three  thousand,  and  they  had  eyes  for  a  crip- 
ple. They  had  eyes  for  people  who  had  houses 
and  lands  and  money,  and  they  had  eyes  and 
heart  and  hands  for  the  poor  fellow  who  wanted 
something.  That  is  the  man  the  Lord  can  trust. 
Have  we  eyes  for  the  cripple,  have  we  eyes  for 
the  harlot,  have  we  eyes  for  the  drunkard,  have 
we  eyes  for  the  jail-bird,  have  we  sympathy  for 
the  cursed  ?  There  are  thousands  outside  our 
Churches  and  you  have  libelled  them,  miserably 
slandered  them,  hurled  insult  at  them  for  their 
injury.     Have  you  tried  to  save  them  ?     There 


Gleaning  for  God  183 

is  in  the  worst  in  your  city  just  as  much  as  there 
was  in  you  to  which  grace  can  appeal  if  you  will 
only  speak  your  gospel.  God  help  you  to  act ! 
There  they  are.  How  many  of  us  try  to  save 
and  rescue  the  perishing  ?  It  is  easy  to  sing  in 
the  cushioned  pew,  or  in  the  drawing-room  with 
crewel-work  slippers  on.  That  is  not  religion, 
that  is  sentiment,  that  is  dreaming.  If  you  want 
to  save  the  perishing  you  must  go  and  handle 
them.  Who  is  willing  to  do  it  ?  We  talk  about 
the  non-church-goers,  what  about  the  non-going 
Church  ?  We  slander  people  when  we  say  they 
do  not  want  the  Church.  It  is  nonsense,  it  is  not 
true.  I  will  not  hear  them  libelled.  They  do 
want  God,  they  do  want  the  Bible,  they  are  not 
hostile  to  Jesus  Christ,  but  they  do  hate  the  poor 
caricature  they  see  of  Him  in  the  lives  of  so  many 
of  us  who  profess  to  follow  Him  ;  they  hate  that, 
but  they  do  not  hate  Jesus  ;  they  respond  to 
Jesus,  and  they  know  Jesus  when  they  see  Him. 
And  I  have  lived  to  learn  that  there  are  far  more 
people  who  will  come  and  sit  in  your  pew  if  you 
ask  them  than  you  dream  of. 

I  do  not  know  what  you  do  in  your  town  when 
there  is  an  election,  but  I  know  what  they  do 
where  I  live.     It  does  not  matter  how  far  a  man 


184  Gleaning  for  God 

lives  from  the  polling-booth,  the  candidate  goes 
and  sees  him,  if  he  has  a  vote,  if  he  is  on  the 
register.  They  go  and  knock  at  his  door,  and 
they  do  not  open  it  till  it  is  answered.  They 
treat  him  with  respect.  He  is  a  voter.  If  the 
wife  comes  to  the  door,  they  ask  to  see  the  hus- 
band, and  then  they  are  invited  to  sit  down,  and 
if  there  is  a  bird  in  the  cage  it  is  the  finest  bird 
that  ever  was ;  if  there  is  a  little  flower  in  the  pot 
— well,  it  is  a  beautiful  flower,  and  if  he  has  got 
some  chickens  they  go  and  look  at  his  chickens  ; 
and  if  there  is  a  dog,  they  pat  the  dog ;  and  if 
there  is  a  baby,  they  don't  forget  to  kiss  the 
baby,  though  it  is  not  over  clean.  They  have 
their  eyes  on  the  vote,  and  if  the  man  is  not  at 
home  they  go  again  and  again  and  again  till  they 
are  sure  of  him,  or  the  other  man  is,  and  when 
the  day  of  polHng  comes  they  are  so  anxious  to 
get  the  man  up  to  the  scratch  that  they  don't 
wait  for  him  to  walk,  they  send  a  carriage  or  a 
motor  car.  Is  that  true  ?  How  much  do  you  do 
when  you  want  him  to  come  to  Church  ?  You 
never  invite  him,  you  never  go  and  see  him,  you 
never  tell  him  there  is  a  service  ;  the  only  thing 
you  do  is  to  pull  a  piece  of  rope,  and  tell  him  by 
that  piece  of  brass  or  metal  that  there  is  a  service 


Gleaning  for  God  l8j 

going  on,  and  the  fellow  says  that  "  when  they 
wanted  my  vote  they  could  come  and  see  me, 
now  they  want  me  converted  they  don't  know 
me."  And  the  working  man  sees  through  the 
fraud,  and  it  is  time  he  did,  and  it  is  time  you 
saw  it.  Listen :  there  are  more  cripples  will  re- 
spond to  the  touch  of  real  sympathy  than  any  of 
you  dream  of.  You  do  not  know  what  is  in 
them;  you  have  never  dived,  you  have  never 
dug,  you  have  never  searched.  There  are  more 
than  you  think.  A  little  while  ago  I  stood  in  a 
wonderful  mine  in  Kimberley — a  diamond  mine. 
I  was  taken  down  2,520  feet,  and  they  gave  me  a 
pick  and  I  brought  down  some  of  that  blue  mould 
carrying  the  diamonds  to  my  feet.  Some  of  it 
crumbled,  and  I  searched  with  the  electric  light, 
but  I  could  see  no  diamond.  Yet  in  that  ground 
there  are  diamonds  of  countless  value,  and  God 
put  them  there.  Somebody  was  riding  through 
your  streets  one  day  with  Ruskin  and  said, 
"  What  disgusting  stuff  this  London  mud  is !  " 
Ruskin  said, "  In  that  mud  there  are  the  sand  and 
soot  and  water  and  lime  out  of  which  God  makes 
opals  and  sapphires  and  diamonds."  And  if  God 
can  make  opals  and  sapphires  and  diamonds  out 
of  London  mud.  He  can  make  something  out  of 


i86  Gleaning  for  God 

the  poor  cripple  that  lives  next  door  to  you,  if 
you  will  only  help  God  to  save  him,  and  that  is 
your  business  and  mine  now.  Fasten  your  eyes 
on  somebody.  If  they  are  crippled  you  know 
not  what  is  there.  Give  it  a  chance.  Smile  on 
it,  love  it,  help  it ;  it  will  surprise  you.  There 
may  be  a  lump  of  humanity,  all  dwarfed,  twisted, 
crooked,  never  had  a  chance  yet,  remember ; 
cursed  in  its  birth,  made  drunk  in  its  mother's 
milk,  born  with  the  blood  of  the  harlot,  the 
drunkard  and  the  thief  in  its  veins.  In  God's 
name  have  pity  on  such !  Christ  died  for  the 
worst.  If  you  believe  it,  live  as  though  you  did, 
and  help  them  back  to  God. 

Peter  and  John  fastened  their  eyes  on  this  poor 
cripple,  and  that  was  the  dawn  of  the  eternal 
day  for  the  poor  fellow.  They  said,  "  Look  on 
us,"  and  he  did,  and  he  expected  something  im- 
mediately— and  there  are  lots  of  folk  who  have 
looked  at  you  and  expected  something.  Have 
they  been  disappointed  ?  "  Look  on  us."  And 
then  Peter  made  a  beautiful  little  speech,  and 
preached  a  nice  little  sermon.  He  said,  "  In  the 
name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  rise  up,  and  walk." 
Now,  you  and  I  might  do  that  until  further  orders. 
But  Peter  did  not  stop  there.     Throwing  back 


Gleaning  for  God  187 

the  robe  he  bared  his  arm,  and  got  near  enough, 
and  he  picked  him  up  by  the  right  hand  and 
lifted  him  up.  I  wonder  what  some  of  you 
would  do  with  a  poor  cripple.  You  will  have 
to  stoop  if  you  would  lift.  Good  stoopers  are 
needed  in  the  Church.  When  I  was  a  gipsy,  I 
lived  in  my  tent.  I  never  slept  in  a  house  till  I 
was  seventeen.  I  was  just  a  gipsy  boy,  and  when 
I  was  travelling  the  counties  of  Cambridge  and 
Essex  and  Suffolk  and  Norfolk,  I  used  to  see  the 
farmers  go  into  the  fields  with  their  wagons  and 
carry  the  golden  grain  to  the  ricks,  and  when  the 
stackyards  were  bursting  with  prosperity  then 
the  farmers  would  open  the  gates  of  the  fields  and 
let  the  parishioners  go  in,  and  do  you  know  what 
they  called  it  ?  Gleaning.  I  noticed,  when  I 
was  only  a  boy,  that  good  gleaners  had  to  be 
good  stoopers.  And,  brothers,  if  you  go  out 
into  God's  fields  to  glean  cripples  for  Him,  you 
must  stoop.  If  you  are  going  to  help  anybody 
you  will  have  to  stand  a  little  higher  than  they 
are,  or  you  won't  hft  them  far.  Make  sure  of 
your  standing.  Peter  got  hold  of  him  by  the 
right  hand  and  lifted  him  up,  and  there  are  mo- 
ments in  a  man's  life  when  a  lift  of  that  sort  will 
lift  him  not  only  for  time,  but  for  eternity.     I 


i88  Gleaning  for  God 

have  got  hold  of  men's  hands  in  South  Africa 
and  looked  them  in  the  face,  and  they  have  never 
said  one  word,  just  gripped  their  hand,  and  it 
has  been  the  touch  of  their  mother's  grief  again,  it 
has  been  the  touch  of  their  home,  and  I  have  seen 
big  tears  fall  like  bubbles  on  a  mountain  stream. 
I  tell  you  there  is  something  indescribable  in  the 
touch  of  a  human  hand.  Take  your  glove  off, 
handle  these  poor  things  for  Christ's  sake.  It  is 
all  very  well  to  say,  ♦'  Oh,  you  believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus." 

Listen :  you  have  got  good  blood  in  your 
veins,  you  have  got  the  moral  momentum  of  a 
godly  ancestry  coursing  through  your  veins,  you 
were  brought  up  in  a  Christian  home,  you  have 
had  the  advantages  of  education,  of  Church  life, 
ministers  in  charge  of  your  Sunday-school, 
teachers  to  visit  you.  Christian  parents  to  love 
you.  You  have  everything  in  the  world  to  help 
you  to  believe,  yet  there  are  moments  when  it 
takes  all  the  time  to  get  you  to  believe.  Have 
pity  on  those  who  have  not  had  your  chance. 
It  is  all  very  well  to  say,  "  Believe,  believe."  You 
have  got  to  become  Jesus  Christ  in  human  form, 
and  let  them  handle  you,  and  believe  in  Him  as 
He  reveals  Himself  through  you.     God  help  us 


Gleaning  for  God  189 

to  do   it.     The  cripples  will  be  saved  when  the 
Church  handles  them. 

He  went  to  church — of  course  he  did.  He  was 
a  cripple.  And  there  are  lots  of  people  who  will 
come  into  church  leaping  and  dancing  for  joy- 
when  you  go  and  handle  them.  That  is  the  way 
in  for  them.  That  is  the  way  in ;  the  way  into 
your  pew  is  through  your  hand  and  through  your 
heart,  and  through  your  eyes  and  through  your 
legs  and  through  your  life.  The  way  to  God  for 
some  of  these  people  is  by  you.  They  will  come 
fast  enough,  only  give  them  a  chance,  and  make 
you  feel  you  want  them.  They  feel  you  want 
their  votes.  When  they  come  to  church  they 
look  at  the  pews  and  see  the  little  notice  boards, 
so  to  speak,  with  names  on  them,  as  much  as  to 
say,  "  Keep  off  the  grass,"  and  if  twenty  or  thirty 
of  them  got  to  church  before  some  of  you  were 
there  and  got  into  your  pew  from  the  slums  be- 
fore you  reached  it,  some  of  you  would  turn  up 
your  nose  and  call  the  deacons  or  the  office- 
bearers and  say,  "  This  is  my  pew."  Then  we 
talk  about  the  non-church-goer.  The  Lord  save 
us  from  cant  and  humbug.  Don't  you  monopo- 
lize any  little  bit  of  God's  heritage.  It  does  not 
belong  to  you.     It  is  His.     His  house  is  open  for 


IQO  Gleaning  for  God 

the  world.  Give  Him  a  chance  in  His  own  house, 
and  give  those  a  chance  that  need  Him  most. 
Poor  cripple,  of  course  he  got  more  than  he 
sked  for.  He  asked  for  alms,  and  the  Lord  gave 
him  legs.  It  is  always  a  surprise ;  Jesus  always 
gives  more  than  we  ask,  and  you  and  I,  who 
have  tried  to  love  Him  for  years,  find  every  day 
a  glad  surprise.  We  thought  we  could  not  stand, 
but  we  walked.  We  thought  we  could  not  walk, 
but  we  ran.  We  thought  we  couid  not  endure, 
but  we  are  living.  We  thought  we  should  never 
hold  on,  but  here  we  are,  blessed  be  God. 
Brother,  live  your  gospel,  and  the  cripples  all 
around  you  will  touch  your  hand,  and  through  it 
they  will  catch  the  pulse  of  the  love  which  went 
to  the  cross,  which  is  strong  enough  to  save  the 
world.     God  help  us  to  do  so.     Amen. 


XI 

HID  WITH  CHRIST 


"  If  ye  then  be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which 
are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  Set 
your  affection  on  things  above,  not  on  things  on  the  earth. 
For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 
When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also 
appear  with  Him  in  glory. 

"  Mortify  therefore  your  members  which  are  upon  the  earth ; 
fornication,  uncleanness,  inordinate  affection,  evil  concupis- 
cence, and  covetousness,  which  is  idolatry :  for  which  things' 
sake  the  wrath  of  God  cometh  on  the  children  of  disobedience : 
in  the  which  ye  also  walked  some  time,  when  ye  lived  in 
them.  But  now  ye  also  put  off  all  these ;  anger,  wrath,  malice, 
blasphemy,  filthy  communication  out  of  your  mouth.  Lie  not 
one  to  another,  seeing  that  ye  have  put  off  the  old  man  with 
his  deeds ;  and  have  put  on  the  new  man,  which  is  renewed  in 
knowledge  after  the  image  of  Him  that  created  him:  where 
there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  circumcision  nor  uncircum- 
cision,  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor  free :  but  Christ  is  all, 
and  in  all." — Col.  j  .■  /-//. 


XI 

HID  WITH  CHRIST 

A   TALK   WITH    CHRISTIAN   BEGINNERS 

I  WANT  if  I  can  to  emphasize  some  very  whole- 
some truths  this  morning,  especially  for  the  sake 
of  those  who  have  just  set  out  to  serve  the  Lord. 
I  will  take  as  the  basis  of  my  remarks  Col.  3, 
verses  i  to  ii. 

Now  look  at  the  first  verse — "  If  ye  then  be 
risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which  are 
above."  As  much  as  to  say,  "  You  have  pro- 
fessed faith  in  Christ,  you  have  taken  your  stand 
in  the  most  public  and  solemn  way  possible,  and 
declared  yourselves  to  be  on  His  side.  You 
have  taken  upon  yourselves  the  great  name  of 
Christian.  Now,"  says  the  apostle,  "  if  that  is 
so,  we  shall  expect  to  see  it  in  your  hfe."  It  is 
not  enough  to  stand  up,  you  must  keep  up.  It 
is  not  enough  to  stand,  you  must  walk.  It  is  not 
enough  to  have  a  name,  you  must  have  a  life. 
For  if  Christianity  be  anything,  it  is  a  progressive 
life.  When  once  you  have  accepted  Jesus  Christ 
193 


194  Hid  With  Christ 

as  your  Saviour  from  sin,  when  once  you  have 
made  Him  your  Lord  and  your  kmg,  then  you 
must,  if  you  are  to  be  loyal,  true,  honourable, 
then  you  must  dedicate  every  moment  of  your 
life  to  His  service.  You  must  let  it  be  seen 
everywhere  that  you  are  now  not  your  own,  but 
that  you  belong  to  Him,  that  the  profession  you 
made  the  other  night  or  years  ago  when  you 
said,  "  As  for  me  and  all  I  am  concerned  with 
and  have  any  authority  over,  I  will  serve  the 
Lord,"  that  profession  must  be  lived  out.  Every 
day  and  every  hour  of  every  day,  not  only  in 
the  Church  but  in  the  home,  in  the  workshop,  in 
the  business,  in  the  office,  in  the  political  arena, 
in  pubUc  and  in  private,  I  am  Christ's  man,  I  am 
Christ's  woman,  and  I  must  act,  I  must  live,  I 
must  walk,  I  must  so  conduct  myself,  so  transact 
my  business,  so  think  and  so  speak  that  the 
Divine  stamp  will  be  on  me  and  will  be  felt  and 
seen  everywhere.  I  must  live  with  this  ever  be- 
fore me,  "  I  am  risen  with  Christ,  and  by  my  life, 
my  neighbours,  my  friends,  my  servants,  my  mas- 
ter, my  acquaintances  and  relatives  must  see  that 
my  heart  is  set  on  things  above. 

You  say  you  have  been  in  the  inquiry-room, 
you  had  your  name  taken  down  as  an  inquirer, 


Hid  With  Christ  195 

you  knelt  and  prayed  with  those  who  tried  to 
help  you,  and  you  really  did  on  your  knees  hon- 
estly and  intelligently  seek  to  give  yourself  to 
Jesus  Christ.  Did  you  think  that  the  battle  was 
over  then  ?  If  you  did  you  never  made  a  greater 
blunder.  It  is  only  beginning.  That  was  the 
initiative,  that  was  the  first  step,  that  was  the 
turning,  that  was  the  yielding,  that  was  acknowl- 
edging the  facts  of  the  case.  Now  the  fight  will 
begin,  and  it  will  be  a  fight ;  it  will  be  a  conflict 
from  here  till  the  great  white  throne  is  in  view. 
But  remember,  you  are  not  alone.  They  that 
are  for  you  are  more  than  all  that  can  be  against 
you.  You  joined  the  Church  a  long  time  ago  ? 
You  took  communion,  and  you  are  perhaps  an 
office-bearer,  a  deacon,  a  Sunday-school  teacher, 
and  go  to  church  regularly  ?  Is  that  all  the  evi- 
dence that  you  have  of  the  new-born  life  ?  Have 
you  nothing  else  to  say  for  yourself  but  that  you 
take  communion  and  go  to  church  twice  on  a 
Sunday,  and  you  are  a  Sunday-school  teacher 
and  occasionally — for  such  miracles  do  some- 
times happen — you  go  to  the  week-evening 
prayer-meeting?  Is  that  all  the  evidence  you 
have  that  you  are  a  King's  son  ?  If  ye  then  be 
risen  with  Christ  let  us  see  the  resurrection  life 


196  Hid  With  Christ 

or  we  won't  believe  your  profession,  and  if  I  were 
your  pastor  I  would  not  believe  in  your  professed 
Christian  life  unless  I  knew  by  your  beautiful 
walk  that  God  had  saved  you  from  sin,  and  that 
you  were  seeking  to  walk  as  becometh  the  Gospel. 
I  wonder  if  your  wife  knows  you  have  been 
in  the  inquiry-room — and  she  is  a  good  judge. 
I  wonder  if  your  husband  knows  that  you  have 
been  in  the  inquiry-room,  my  sister.  He  will 
know  every  time  he  comes  home  from  work  if 
you  are  a  real  Christian  woman ;  he  will  come 
home  a  little  faster  than  he  used  to  to  get  a  look 
at  you.  Just  as  sure  as  the  sun  rises  and  shines 
and  kisses  the  earth  into  beauty,  when  God 
touches  the  human  life  He  transforms  it  from  sin 
to  grace.  I  do  not  care  how  bad  the  man  is 
that  you  live  with,  I  do  not  care  how  bad  the 
woman  is  that  lives  with  you,  or  how  bad  the 
workmates  are  that  you  work  with,  deep  down 
in  their  hearts  they  will  admire  the  beautiful  thing 
God  makes.  I  wonder  if  your  employer  knows 
that  you  are  born  again,  because  he  will  if  you 
are.  The  man  who  is  really  born  again  will 
watch  his  religion  in  the  minutest  details  of  his 
life.  His  religion  will  be  seen  in  the  little  things. 
Everybody  will  know  that  you  are  born  again 


Hid  With  Christ  197 

who  knows  you.  You  remember  that  wonderful 
instance  in  the  life  of  the  Son  of  God  when  that 
leper  came  to  Him  and  said,  "  Lord,  if  Thou  wilt 
Thou  canst  make  me  clean,"  and  Jesus  said,  "  I 
will;  be  thou  clean,"  and  He  touched  him  and 
his  leprosy  departed  from  him,  and  then  Jesus 
said  to  the  man,  "  Tell  nobody ;  see  that  no  man 
know  it,  but  go,  show  thyself  to  the  priest,  and 
offer  for  thy  cleansing  according  as  Moses  hath 
commanded  for  a  testimony  unto  them."  I  think 
that  man  said,  "  Blessed  Jesus,  I  shall  tell  the 
first  man  I  meet."  He  could  not  help  himself. 
A  leper  cleansed  and  nobody  know  it !  It  could 
not  be.  And  if  you  are  a  new  man  in  Christ 
Jesus,  I  tell  you  somebody  is  going  to  know  it. 
And  thank  God  for  it. 

•<  Seek  those  things  that  are  above."  Let  your 
life  be  in  harmony  with  your  profession.  That 
is  what  it  means.  It  is  not  enough  simply  to 
have  your  name  put  down  somewhere,  to  join  a 
club,  or  an  educational  institution,  or  a  social 
meeting-house.  It  means  living  a  life  that  shall 
be  in  harmony  with  the  law  of  God,  that  shall 
glorify  God,  that  shall  be  God-honouring,  that 
shall  be  a  witness  for  His  glory  in  the  world  in 
which   you   live,   that   shall   be   saying   quietly 


198  Hid  With  Christ 

though  you  never  say  a  word,  "  My  Hfe  is  what 
God  has  made  it,  and  He  can  do  the  same  for 
you,"  beautifully  lived,  beautifully  clean,  full  of 
music,  full  of  God,  and  that  life  will  be  a  sermon 
unanswerable,  and  many  a  man  will  listen  to  a 
sermon  Hke  that  who  would  never  listen  to  one 
from  the  pulpit.  They  will  see  that  sermon  lived 
out  when  they  wiirnot  read  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke, 
John,  the  Acts,  and  so  forth.  .  But  though  they 
will  not  look  into  these  things,  they  will  search 
your  life,  and  they  will  take  knowledge  of  you 
that  you  have  been  with  Jesus.  And  what  the 
world  wants  more  and  more  of  to-day  is  the 
faithful  sermon  lived  in  workshop,  market-place, 
warehouse,  bank  and  shop  and  store  and  railway 
train  and  street  car,  the  life  which  is  Christlike. 
God  means  us  to  live,  and  I  pray  God  that  life 
may  be  seen  in  you  and  seen  in  me  more  and 
more. 

And  the  apostle  goes  on.  You  have  to  live  this 
life  for  this  reason — for  your  life,  the  old  life,  the 
selfish,  sinful  life,  the  old  life  of  unbelief  and  sin, 
the  old  life  of  world  and  flesh  and  devil,  and  seek- 
ing your  own,  the  old  life  is  dead.  The  Lord 
help  you  to  bury  it.  Some  of  you  stick  to  the 
corpse  and  drag  it  about  with  you.    You  are  like 


Hid  With  Christ  199 

Lazarus — you  are  out  of  the  grave,  but  you  want 
the  grave-clothes  off.  If  you  are  risen  with 
Christ,  the  old  life  is  dead.  You  know  the  apos- 
tle said  on  one  occasion,  "  Christ  died  for  me.'' 
Then  he  said  again, "  I  am  crucified  with  Christ." 
So  Paul  was  only  preaching  what  he  realized, 
what  he  experienced.  Christ  took  my  place, 
Christ  hung  on  the  cross  for  me,  and  bore  the 
shame  and  the  curse  for  me.  He  paid  the  debt  for 
me.  "  He  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me." 
Oh,  the  mystery  of  it !  oh,  the  length  and  breadth 
and  depth  and  height  of  it ! — He  died  for  me. 
And  oh,  the  next  step  is  still  more  wonderful. 
"  I  am  crucified  with  Christ."  The  old  man  dead 
with  Christ.  And  then  he  goes  on  to  say  in 
another  place,  "  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth 
in  me."  And  then  he  says,  "  I  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me."  So 
that  He  not  only  pays  my  old  debts  off,  but  He 
puts  me  in  the  position  that  I  need  never  get  into 
debt  any  more.  He  gives  me  a  life  which  shall 
enable  me  to  do  these  things,  to  walk  before 
Him,  and  to  please  Him,  and  I  have  the  testi- 
mony that  my  life  is  accepted  in  Christ  Jesus. 
"  For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ 
in  God,"  hidden  away  in  the  heart  of  God.     I 


200  Hid  With  Christ 

shall  never  forget  when  as  a  young  disciple  I 
grasped  that  thought  for  the  first  time.  I  cannot 
tell  you  the  comfort  it  was  to  me.  I  cannot  tell 
you  the  strength  it  brought  me.  I  cannot  tell 
you  the  courage  it  gave  me  when  I  realized  that 
my  salvation  did  not  depend  on  my  feelings  or 
my  thoughts  or  my  frames  or  my  surroundings, 
my  success  or  my  failures,  but  my  salvation  de- 
pended on  my  living  faith  and  my  honest  obedi- 
ence in  a  living  Christ.  Will  you  grip  that,  you 
who  have  just  trusted  Jesus  as  your  Saviour? 
The  mission  is  soon  over,  the  missioner  soon 
gone,  and  the  dark  days  come — the  days  of 
fighting,  the  days  of  conflict,  the  days  when 
you  stand  alone,  the  days  in  which  there  is 
no  light.  The  day  will  come  in  which  you  have 
to  stand  alone  to  face  the  foe  single-handed, 
and  have  to  fight  hard  if  you  mean  to  win,  with- 
out a  scrap  of  feeling,  without  any  sensation  of 
joy  or  peace,  when  you  have  to  go  at  it  with  the 
facts  before  you,  with  God's  unalterable  word 
staring  you  in  the  face,  and  to  stand  by  it  in 
spite  of  suffering.  And  I  tell  you  it  will  be  a 
source  of  strength  to  you  in  that  moment  if  you 
can  close  your  eyes  and  say  to  the  devil  and  the 
world  and  the  flesh  and  everything  that  seems  to 


Hid  With  Christ  201 

be  against  you,  "  Look  here,  my  life  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God,  and  it  does  not  matter  how  I  feel 
or  what  I  am,  it  all  depends  on  what  He  is." 
God  help  you  to  believe  that.  Mind  you,  I  am 
supposing  that  you  will  honestly  seek  to  do  right, 
and  I  am  supposing  that  you  will  honestly  keep 
your  faith  settled,  grounded  in  God ;  I  am  hon- 
estly supposing  that  you  will  neither  turn  to  the 
right  nor  to  the  left  nor  listen  to  the  voice  of  the 
tempter.  But  I  am  now  speaking  of  the  days 
that  will  come ;  for  they  come  to  us  all,  and  they 
come  to  me — days  when  I  have  not  much  feel- 
ing, days  when  I  am  weary  and  tired,  days  when 
I  am  alone  and  have  to  fight  the  devil  alone. 
Ah,  there  are  times  when  I  am  too  tired  to  pray, 
when  if  my  salvation  depended  on  my  getting  on 
my  knees  and  praying  for  an  hour  I  could  not  do 
it,  and  the  Lord  knows  I  could  not  do  it.  I  never 
passed  through  such  physical,  mental,  or  nervous 
strain  in  my  life  as  during  my  recent  mission  in 
South  Africa,  and  there  were  many  nights  when 
I  got  home  from  my  work  too  tired  to  kneel 
down  and  pray — nights  when  I  could  not  sleep. 
And  you  know  the  devil  generally  comes  when  a 
man  is  down,  and  the  devil  says  to  him,  "  Where 
is  your  feehng  now,  where  is  your  happiness  now 


202  Hid  With  Christ 

where  is  your  joy  now,  where  is  your  shouting 
feeling  now  ?  "  And  do  you  know  what  I  do  on 
these  occasions  when  I  am  too  tired  to  pray? 
I  just  throw  myself  on  the  bed  and  say,  "  Blessed 
Jesus,  we  are  on  the  same  old  terms ;  it  is  all 
right,  my  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  Don't 
be  afraid.  Jesus  says,  "  I  give  unto  My  sheep 
eternal  Hfe,  and  no  man  shall  be  able  to  pluck 
them  out  of  My  Father's  hands."  No  man  shall 
pluck  them  out.  Don't  walk  out.  Have  sense 
to  stay  in  the  safe  place,  the  sure  place ;  stay 
there.  The  devil  may  tempt,  but  you  know  you 
need  not  yield ;  you  can  resist  him.  Jesus  does 
not  undertake  to  save  you  from  temptation,  but 
He  undertakes  to  save  you  in  it,  to  keep  you 
from  yielding.  Do  not  think  you  have  more 
temptation  than  you  can  stand?  With  every 
temptation  that  comes  God  comes,  for  He  says, 
"  Ye  shall  not  be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able 
to  bear,  and  with  the  temptation  I  will  make  a 
way  of  escape."  God  comes  as  soon  as  the  devil. 
Don't  you  think  that  the  devil  can  run  faster  than 
God  ?  God  is  ahead  of  him  all  the  time,  and  if 
you  will  believe  it.  He  will  hold  you  and  He  will 
keep  you. 

And  nobody  can  rob  you  of  this  assurance  if 


Hid  With  Christ  203 

you  will  make  up  your  mind  to  hold  it  with  a 
steady  faith,  with  an  obedient  faith.  I  shall 
never  forget  a  little  bit  of  my  own  experience 
soon  after  my  father's  conversion.  He  and  his 
two  brothers — the  three  gipsy  men — were  all 
converted  in  one  week,  and  it  was  a  rare  thing 
to  see  three  gipsy  men — my  father  was  the  least 
of  the  three,  and  he  stood  six  feet — it  was  a  rare 
thing  to  see  those  big  fellows  transformed  by  the 
grace  of  God,  and  wherever  they  were  seen 
people  wanted  to  see  them  again  and  listen  to 
their  beautiful  testimony,  for  it  was  a  wonderful 
work  of  grace  that  was  done  in  and  for  those 
three  men.  In  1874  they  were  invited  down  to 
Portsmouth  for  a  week's  mission,  and  between 
Portsmouth  and  Southampton  they  liked  them 
so  well  that  the  week  became  three,  four,  five, 
and  it  was  six  weeks  before  they  came  home, 
and  you  know  when  father  was  away  from  our 
tent  mother  was  away  too,  for  he  was  both  to  us. 
Mother  was  gone.  The  other  tents  had  their 
mothers,  we  had  not,  and  oh,  those  six  weeks 
did  seem  a  long  time  to  us  who  were  motherless. 
And  one  morning  a  letter  came  to  say  they 
would  be  home  to-morrow,  and  we  were  ready 
for   them   at   six  o'clock  in  the  morning.     We 


204  Hid  With  Christ 

did  not  know  anything  of  trains,  and  it  was  night 
ere  they  came.  And  when  father  came  into  the 
old  tent  we  all  made  way  for  the  baby  girl  to  go 
to  him  first,  as  was  our  custom,  and  he  sat  down 
and  put  his  arms  round  her  and  kissed  her  and 
fondled  her.  She  was  the  baby,  and  he  had  not 
seen  her  for  six  weeks.  The  others  of  us  were 
waiting  our  turn,  but  she  had  father  too  long  for 
some  of  us.  It  was  my  turn  next,  and  I  think  I 
felt  it  more  than  the  rest;  my  boyish  heart 
longed  for  love  and  sympathy,  for  I  never  got 
over  my  mother's  death.  I  longed  for  the  touch 
of  my  father's  hand  and  heart,  and  she  did  not 
come  out,  and  I  said  at  last,  for  I  could  stand  it 
no  longer,  "  Come  out,  come  out,  it  is  my  turn ! " 
She  rolled  her  black  eyes  at  me,  and  said,  "  You 
get  me  out  of  my  father's  arms  if  you  can." 
"  Well,"  I  said,  "  I  cannot  do  that,  but  there  is 
room  for  me,  and  I  am  coming  in,"  and  I  crept 
in,  and  oh,  the  joy  that  seemed  to  steal  into  my 
boyish  heart  as  I  felt  those  dear  arms  about  me ! 
My  brother,  my  sister,  God's  arms,  your  Father's 
arms  are  about  you  if  you  will  but  believe  it. 
Your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 

Seeing  this  is  so,  I  want  you  to  notice  this  es- 
pecially— there  is  some  very  straight  talking  here, 


Hid  With  Christ  205 

no  trimming  about  Paul,  no  attempt  at  saving 
people's  feelings  or  preconceived  notions.  He 
puts  in  the  knife  with  no  asking  if  he  may.  Paul 
is  a  wonderful  spiritual  surgeon,  and  he  begins 
the  operation  without  any  questioning.  He  says, 
"  Mortify  " — make  dead — "  your  members  which 
are  upon  earth."  As  the  Spirit  reveals  to  you 
more  and  more  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  as  you  be- 
come acquainted  with  His  Word,  when  you 
take  the  next  step  and  walk  humbly  with  your 
God,  and  you  detect  in  your  heart  and  life  ele- 
ments of  the  world,  the  remnants  of  evil,  any 
roots  of  bitterness,  as  you  detect  unruly  members, 
evil  members  in  your  life,  says  the  Holy  Ghost 
through  this  wonderful  apostle,  "  Make  them 
dead,"  kill  them,  put  the  knife  in,  slay  utterly ; 
mortify,  self-suicide,  that  is  what  it  means.  Kill 
self,  kill  the  world,  kill  the  flesh,  kill  the  devil, 
mortify,  "  make  dead  your  members  which  are 
upon  the  earth."  Then  he  names  the  black  list : 
fornication — and  he  is  talking  to  the  children  of 
God — fornication,  uncleanness,  passion,  evil  de- 
sire, the  evil  look,  the  evil  spring,  the  passion 
within,  the  impure  thought,  the  suggested  thing 
that  is  wrong ;  though  it  may  seem  beautiful — 
slay   it,   kill   it.     Your   life   within   is    to   be   a 


2o6  Hid  With  Christ 

slaughter-house  for  all  that  God  hates.  "  For 
which  things*  sake,"  he  says,  "  the  wrath  of  God 
Cometh  upon  the  sinner  and  the  disobedient." 
And  if  a  man  will  allow  any  of  these  things  to 
live  in  his  life,  any  Amalekite  is  allowed  to  lift 
his  doomed  head  in  your  life,  remember  the 
sheep  will  bleat  and  the  oxen  will  low,  and  there 
will  be  death  to  somebody.  You  and  I  have  to 
die  to  sin  or  to  die  with  sin.  Sin  must  die  or  I 
must.  The  Holy  Ghost  and  the  sin  of  the  past 
cannot  live  in  the  same  heart.  One  will  go  out. 
Therefore  he  says,  "  Make  dead." 

"  Buried  with  Christ  and  raised  with  Him  too, 
What  is  there  left  for  me  to  do  ? 
Simply  to  cease  from  struggling  and  strife, 
Simply  to  walk  in  newness  of  life." 

That  is  our  business.  We  are  to  turn  from 
the  things  we  used  to  love,  and  of  which  we 
are  ashamed  to-day  to  think  of.  We  are  to 
turn  from  them  in  loathing  and  disgust  and 
walk  the  straight  life  with  the  Son  of  God. 

Then  in  the  eighth  verse  he  makes  this  state- 
ment— **  Put  off  all  these."  How  thorough  Paul 
is  !  He  seems  to  leave  nothing.  He  enters  into 
every  detail.  "  Put  off  these  things — anger,  you 
must   not  be   angry,   you  should  be  sweet  and 


Hid  With  Christ  207 

beautiful,  full  of  smiles,  full  of  sunshine;  you 
must  not  frown  or  feel  like  it,  you  must  not  get 
angry,  you  must  not  slam  doors  and  knock 
things  over  and  stamp  about  the  house  as  though 
you  would  shake  creation,  because  that  is  not 
like  Jesus.  You  have  to  be  like  Him.  Put  off 
anger.  And  if  grace  cannot  sweeten  your 
temper  it  cannot  do  much.  Mind  your  temper. 
Keep  a  bit  in  its  mouth  and  a  kicking-strap  on 
too.  The  Psalmist  says  in  one  place,  "  Be  not 
as  the  horse  or  the  mule,  which  have  no  under- 
standing but  whose  mouth  must  be  held  in  with 
bit  and  bridle."  And  there  are  some  people  who 
need  a  kicking-strap  as  well  as  a  bridle  and  they 
are  called  Christians.  "  Put  off  anger."  I  have 
seen  people  turn  red  in  the  face  and  swell  at 
the  neck  and  bite  their  lips — what  a  storm  was 
raging! — and  they  managed  to  keep  it  in — 
that  is,  it  was  silent — and  when  it  was  over 
they  said,  "  I  didn't  say  anything,  did  I  ? " 
No,  but  you  looked  daggers,  and  you  did  more 
harm  with  that  five  minutes'  explosion  than  you 
did  good  in  a  year  of  your  Christian  life.  That 
is  the  thing  that  makes  it  difBcult  for  the  person 
who  lives  with  you  to  be  a  Christian,  that  is  the 
thing  that  hinders  you  winning  for  Christ,  and 


2o8  Hid  With  Christ 

you  would  win  them  if  you  were  even  and  if 
grace  had  had  its  perfect  work  within  you.  If 
God  has  saved  you  from  big  sins  He  can  save 
you  from  your  temper.  I  know  He  can.  Trust 
Him  even  for  that.  Put  off  anger,  wrath.  What 
is  the  difference  between  wrath  and  anger? 
There  is  a  difference,  a  very  big  difference. 
Wrath  is  anger  with  the  Hd  off,  and  then  you 
say  things,  you  splutter,  then  you  are  not  re- 
sponsible for  what  you  do  say,  and  you  would 
give  your  right  arm  to  unsay  some  things. 
Years  ago  you  made  a  wound  that  has  never 
been  healed,  you  made  a  breach  that  has  never 
been  bridged,  and  those  hot,  cutting,  wrathful 
words  did  what  will  never  be  undone  this  side 
of  the  gates  of  pearl.  They  may  be  forgiven, 
but  undone  never.     Somebody  has  said  that — 

"  Boys  flying  kites  haul  in  their  white-winged  birds, 
But  you  cannot  do  that  when  you  are  flying  words. 
Thoughts  unexpressed  may  sometimes  seem  as  dead, 
But  God  cannot  kill  them  when  once  they  are  said." 

Put  off  wrath.  There  are  members  of  Churches 
who  have  lost  friends — dear  friends.  You  would 
have  rather  lost  your  right  hand  than  lose  them, 
and  you  lost  them  through  the  cutting  word 
that   you    have    never    been   prepared  to   take 


Hid  With  Christ  209 

back.  They  flew  high,  they  flew  straight,  they 
went  into  the  very  soul  of  your  friend,  they  were 
cut  to  the  quick.  It  was  your  withering  word 
that  did  the  mischief.     Put  off  wrath. 

Something  else — what  is  it  ?  Malice.  "  Put 
ofl"  malice."  Is  there  any  difference  between 
wrath  and  malice  ?  Yes,  malice  is  wrath  cooled 
down,  settled  into  what?  Hatred,  murder — and 
nobody  can  be  a  child  of  God  with  murder  in  the 
soul ;  the  Book  says  if  I  hate  my  brother  I  am  a 
murderer.  You  have  done  the  deed  inside  if  you 
hate  anybody:  you  are  a  murderer.  Put  off 
anger,  put  off  wrath,  put  off  malice,  and  be  at- 
tractive, lovable,  full  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus :  "  there 
was  no  guile  found  in  His  mouth,"  and  you  are  to 
be  like  Him. 

Then  He  makes  another  statement.  He  says, 
"  Lie  not  one  to  another  " — lie,  not,  and  He  is 
talking  to  believers.  Be  truthful,  do  not  tell  any 
lie,  any  business  lie,  any  society  lie,  or  any  other 
kind  of  lie,  white  He  or  black  lie — and  the  whitest 
lie  I  ever  knew  was  as  black  as  the  devil.  Lie 
not.  Don't  put  in  your  window,  "  SelHng  off  at 
a  great  sacrifice  "  if  it  is  not  so.  It  may  be  a 
sacrifice  to  the  other  fellow,  not  to  you.  You  do 
not  exist  for  philanthropic  purposes.     Tell  the 


210  Hid  With  Christ 

truth.  Don't  tell  people  you  are  glad  to  see  them 
when  you  are  not.  Don't  ask  people  to  stay  for 
tea  when  you  do  not  want  them,  and  don't  ask 
people  to  call  and  see  you  just  because  it  looks 
the  proper  thing  to  do,  if  in  your  heart  you  do 
not  mean  it.  Lie  not.  Lots  of  people  in  the 
Church  of  God  cannot  get  on  in  their  spiritual 
hfe  because  of  the  spirit  of  lying.  Don't  tell  the 
preacher  you  enjoyed  his  sermon  when  you  did 
not.  If  you  do  enjoy  the  sermon  tell  him  so 
once  in  a  way,  it  will  help  him  to  preach  better 
next  time.  But  lie  not.  Be  truthful.  Say  noth- 
ing rather  than  equivocate  or  talk  double.  And 
it  means  be  honest,  too.  This  "  lie  not "  means 
honesty  in  life  and  character  as  well  as  in  words. 
It  means  paying  your  debts.  It  means  making 
restitution.  On  the  Monday  morning  after  the 
first  Sunday  I  preached  in  Johannesburg  a  gentle- 
man walked  into  the  house  of  a  leading  Dutch- 
man, took  out  of  his  pocket  a  gold  watch  and 
said,  "  The  watch  is  yours.  I  stole  it  from  you 
eight  years  ago.  I  heard  Gipsy  Smith  yesterday 
and  I  got  converted,  and  now  I  must  give  back 
this  watch.  It  does  not  belong  to  me."  That  is 
religion. 

Some  years  ago  in  one  of  my  missions  in  a  vil- 


Hid  With  Christ  211 

lage  a  Yorkshireman  professed  conversion,  a 
rough  man,  a  drunkard,  a  swearer,  a  gambler, 
and  he  joined  the  Methodist  Church.  One  of 
his  pals  of  years  ago  called  on  him  and  said  — 

"  Jack,  I  hear  thou's  gotten  converted." 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  have." 

"  And  joined  t'  Church  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  joined  t'  Church." 

"  Well,  Jack,"  he  said, "  you  remember  so  many 
years  ago  you  borrowed  a  sovereign  off  me  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Jack, "  I  remember  very  well." 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  now  you  are  a  Christian  I 
shall  expect  that  sovereign  back." 

"  Oh,"  said  Jack,  "  the  Lord  has  pardoned  my 
sins,  and  that  is  one  of  them." 

I  was  not  long  in  finding  out  Jack  and  I  said, 
"  Jack,  that  may  be  a  very  convenient  sort  of 
Gospel,  but  if  you  are  a  Christian  you  will  pay 
that  man  his  sovereign  if  you  sacrifice  a  coat  to 
do  it." 

Then  the  apostle  said  something  else.  "  Put 
away  filthy  communications  " — blasphemy,  filthy 
talking.  Listen  again  :  if  you  are  a  Christian  you 
will  never  tell  another  filthy  tale.  If  you  are  a 
Christian  you  will  never  listen  to  another  filthy 
tale.     If  you  are  a  Christian,  young  man,  young 


212  Hid  With  Christ 

woman,  you  will  never  listen  to  another  smutty 
joke.  There  are  scores,  hundreds  of  young  peo- 
ple who  have  lost  their  hold  on  God  and  become 
backshders,  and  old  people  too,  because  they  in- 
dulged in  smut.  Put  filthy  communications  out 
of  your  mouth.  Say  nothing  that  needs  to  be 
whispered.  Listen  to  nothing  that  you  would 
not  like  your  mother  to  hear.  Tell  nothing  you 
would  not  like  Jesus  to  listen  to.  Do  not  say 
anything  about  your  neighbour  that  you  would 
not  like  to  say  face  to  face.  Keep  your  tongue, 
keep  your  speech,  keep  your  mouth,  keep  your 
heart,  keep  your  body,  keep  your  hfe  for  Jesus' 
sake. 

And  He  who  calls  you  to  this  beautiful  life 
will  put  His  wing  around  you  if  you  will  but 
trust  Him  and  obey  Him.  And  all  the  strength, 
and  all  power,  and  all  the  wisdom,  and  all  the 
ChristHkeness  He  will  breathe  into  you,  and  you 
will  become  for  Christ  a  great  power  for  good 
and  for  all  blessing  to  all  about  you.     Amen. 


XII 

THE  NEW  LIFE 

A   MESSAGE    TO    NEW    CONVERTS 

I  WANT  to  have  a  talk  with  you  about  the  new 
life  and  the  way  you  are  to  live  it.  Do  not  think 
your  decision  for  Christ  means  the  fight  is  all 
over ;  it  is  only  beginning.  But  remember  all 
about  you  are  forces  Divine  ;  you  will  no  longer 
walk  or  battle  alone — God,  the  Almighty  God,  is 
for  you,  and  just  as  sure  as  He  sits  on  the  throne, 
you  will  overcome  all  opposing  forces  if  you  will 
trust  and  obey.  Do  not  be  afraid  to  believe  this. 
Tell  yourself  this  is  true.  Go  over  your  sur- 
render to  God  very  often. 

"  Sing  it  aloud  when  you  wake  in  the  morning, 
Meet  the  new  day  with  its  jubilant  strain, 
No  condemnation,  for  Jesus  hath  found  you." 

Saved  you — you  are  His.  "  By  grace  have  ye 
been  saved  "  (Eph.  2  :  5).  Let  there  be  no  doubt 
about  this  ;  be  sure  this  is  so  at  the  beginning. 
"  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting 
213 


214  The  New  Life 

life  "  (John  3 :  36).  Press  hard  on  the  word  hath  ; 
claim  the  assurance  now ;  let  the  certainty  of 
these  words  be  your  hope,  your  joy,  and  strength. 
God  says  it,  and  it  must  be  so,  and  no  power  on 
earth  can  gainsay  it  or  overthrow  it  for  a  mo- 
ment. 

You  have  yielded  yourself  to  Jesus,  you  are 
born  again,  you  have  accepted  Him  as  your 
Saviour  for  time  and  eternity.  He  who  bore 
your  sins  on  Calvary  has  now  broken  their  power 
and  saves  you  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin. 
You  are  accepted  in  the  beloved ;  you  are  no 
longer  an  alien  or  afar  off,  you  have  been  brought 
nigh  by  the  blood  of  His  Cross.  You  are  now 
the  child  of  God.  As  ye  have  therefore  received 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  so  walk  ye  in  Him,  rooted 
and  built  up  in  Him,  and  stablished  in  the  faith, 
as  ye  have  been  taught,  abounding  therein  with 
thanksgiving  (Col.  2 : 6,  7).  You  are  now  in 
Him,  as  the  branch  is  in  the  vine,  part  of  Him. 
Keep  every  channel  of  your  being  open,  and  in 
sympathy  with  your  root  and  head,  that  every 
part  of  you  may  be  filled  with  the  life  Divine. 
Never  let  the  vine  be  ashamed  of  the  branch,  or 
even  feel  it  to  be  a  dead  weight ;  be  filled  with 
life  and  health  and  there  will  be  beauty  and  fruit. 


The  New  Life  215 

Abide  in  Him,  keep  your  roots  in  Him,  and  you 
may  grow.  Abiding  means  fellowship  with 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  Allow  nothing  to 
break  this  communion  or  intrude  for  a  moment 
between  you  and  your  beloved.  Hold  a  constant 
witness  to  the  cleansing  power  of  the  precious 
blood ;  live  at  the  foot  of  the  cross.  Keep  heart 
and  mind  fixed  upon  Him  by  an  habitual  obedi- 
ence. The  need  for  this  is  made  very  clear  in 
the  Master's  words,  "  If  ye  keep  My  command- 
ments ye  shall  abide  in  My  love,  even  as  I  have 
kept  My  Father's  commandments  and  abide  in 
His  love"  (John  15:10).  Obedience  is  abiding. 
Love  must  obey,  because  it  rests  in  the  eternal 
love.  Oh  !  the  blessedness  which  can  and  does 
say,  "  I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  per- 
suaded that  He  is  able  to  keep  (or  guard)  that 
which  I  have  committed  unto  Him  against  that 
day"  (2  Tim.  I  :  12).  Surely  this  must  prompt 
fruitfulness  and  every  good  work  (John  15:8; 
I  John  2 :  36). 

Cultivate  moral  backbone.  Be  able  to  stand 
for  Christ.  Let  there  be  constancy  in  your 
character,  firmness  of  mind.  Fix  your  whole 
being  upon  God  to  know  and  understand  Him. 
Daniel  was  greatly  beloved   because  he  set  his 


2l6  The  New  Life 

mind  and  heart  upon  God.  The  Divine  heart 
felt  it  could  depend  upon  Daniel,  and  knew  he 
would  be  true  and  loyal,  and  anywhere  and  all 
the  time.  The  heart  of  God  longs  for  those  in 
whom  He  can  deHght  (Matt.  3  :  17),  and  upon 
whom  He  can  depend.  He  desires  all  who  love 
Him  to  be  strong,  pure,  and  holy  in  heart  and 
life ;  nothing  else  will  or  can  bring  Him  glory 
and  give  Him  joy.  These  are  some  of  the  un- 
changing facts  of  God's  Word.  Those  who 
understand,  believe,  and  obey  these  things  will  be 
calm,  strong,  holy  and  peaceful,  fully  assured  of 
God's  pardon  and  cleansing,  and  will  be  humble, 
grateful,  bold  to  speak,  and  ready  to  do  any  and 
every  service  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good 
of  humanity. 

"  Let  your  Hght  shine  before  men."  Never 
fail  to  witness  for  Christ,  in  your  home,  first  of 
all,  not  only  in  word  but  in  deed ;  in  the  Church 
amongst  fellow  Christians,  and  in  the  world,  never 
be  ashamed  of  Jesus.  You  are  to  be  a  witness 
for  Him — this  is  His  desire  for  you.  "  Let  the 
redeemed  of  the  Lord  say  so."  "  Ye  shall  be 
witnesses  unto  Me  "  (Acts  i  :  8).  "  They  over- 
come by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  and  by  the  word 
of  their  testimony"  (Rev.   12  :  11).      There  are 


The  New  Life  217 

thousands  of  professing  Christians  who  have  no 
joy,  because  they  bear  no  witness  for  Christ. 
Oh !  for  the  boldness  of  Peter  when  he  said, 
"  We  cannot  but  speak  the  things  which  we  have 
seen  and  heard  "  (Acts  4  :  20).  As  far  as  you 
can,  undo  the  past.  If  there  is  anything  wrong 
in  the  past  of  your  Hfe,  and  you  can  put  it  right, 
do  so  without  delay.  If  you  have  taken  any- 
thing from  any  man,  restore  fully,  or  go  as  far  as 
you  can  in  that  direction;  this  is  right.  Not 
only  forsake  sin,  but  confess  it,  for  that  will  put 
you  right  with  the  man  you  have  wronged,  as 
w«ll  as  bring  you  into  close  relationship  with 
God.  For  God  requireth  that  which  is  past " 
(Eccles.  3  :  15).  The  jailer  at  Philippi  took  Paul 
and  Silas  "  the  same  hour  of  his  conversion  and 
washed  their  stripes!'  He  could  not  wait  till 
morning ;  when  morning  came  he  was  rejoicing 
in  God.  Joy  always  follows  stripe- washing.  Let 
all  those  who  know  you  see  your  religion  means 
doing  right  all  along  the  line.  This  may  mean 
time  and  trouble,  and  even  suffering,  but  the  soul 
made  right  with  God  must  get  right  with  man. 
"  If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as  lieth  in  you,  live 
peaceably  with  all  men"  (Rom.  12  :  18).  "  The 
wicked  borroweth  and  payeth  not  again,  but  the 


2l8  The  New  Life 

righteous  showeth  mercy  and  forgiveth  "  (Psa. 
37  :  2i).  "Render  therefore  to  all  their  dues" 
(Rom.  13:7).  "  Owe  to  no  man  anything  but  to 
love  one  another "  (Rom.  13  :  8).  Let  your 
conscience  be  clear  on  this  matter.  Have  noth- 
ing hidden  away  in  your  life  which  will  not  bear 
the  light.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness, 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  (Rom.  14  :  17}. 
Righteousness  first :  the  rest  will  follow. 

Bible-reading  must  be  done.  If  you  are  to 
grow,  you  will  need  "  the  sincere  milk  of  the 
Word,  that  ye  may  grow  thereby  "  (i  Pet.  2  :  2). 
One  of  the  great  needs  of  to-day  is  more  real 
knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God.  "  Let  the  Word 
of  God  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom  "  (Col. 
3  :  16).  Rise  in  time  in  the  morning  to  read  your 
portion ;  the  day  will  be  all  the  brighter  because 
you  have  looked  into  the  living  Word.  Seek  some 
truth  by  which  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  day.  Hide 
it  in  your  heart,  delight  in  the  law  of  the  Lord, 
then  when  Satan  assaileth  or  difficulties  arise  you 
will  have  your  sword  with  which  to  fight  the 
enemy,  for  the  power  of  the  Word  will  be  within 
you.  By  taking  heed  to  His  Word  you  will  be 
able  to  live  clean  and  pure,  noble  and  strong 
(Psa.  119:9). 


/ 


The  New  Life  219 

Cultivate  the  habit  of  prayer.  The  abiding  in 
Him  means  a  life  of  prayer.  Get  into  the  habit 
of  talking  to  God  as  you  would  your  dearest  and 
closest  earthly  friend;  speak  to  Him — only 
*•  speak  and  He  will  hear,"  for  He  is  so  near  to 
the  heart  that  has  fully  surrendered  and  is  fully 
trusting  Him.  You  need  not  go  through  a  great 
many  high-sounding  sentences  in  order  to  pray — 
indeed,  sometimes  there  is  far  more  in  silence 
than  in  words,  when  one  bows  in  heart  and  in 
spirit  before  the  Lord.  And,  mind  you,  you  can 
talk  with  God  all  the  time — in  the  private  place, 
in  market,  mart  and  office,  schoolroom,  bank  and 
drawing-room,  kitchen  and  factory,  God  is  there, 
near,  always — blessed  be  God  ! — to  those  who 
hang  upon  Him.  Do  not  be  discouraged  because 
you  cannot  make  long  prayers  ;  the  most  effectual 
prayers  I  ever  heard  were  short.  All  the  prayers 
recorded  in  the  Bible  were  brief;  but  they  kept 
on  praying,  praying  always ;  live  in  the  spirit  of 
prayer,  that  is  the  ideal  life.  You  cannot  be 
always  on  your  knees.  I  cannot ;  and  God  does 
not  want  us  to,  either.  There  are  duties  which, 
when  done  faithfully,  are  prayers.  When  the 
heart  and  eye  are  single,  every  act  may  be  a 
prayer.     All  work  well  done,  and  done  unto  the 


220  The  New  Life 

Lord,  may   be  obedience  to  the  words,   "  Pray 
without  ceasing"  (i  Thess.  5  :  17). 

Dont  lose  heart  because  you  are  tempted.  You 
will  be  more  conscious  of  temptation  now  you 
have  given  yourself  to  God  and  are  trying  to  do 
right.  The  devil  is  now  your  bitter  enemy ;  he 
will  seek  to  trip  you  at  every  step.  He  would 
delight  to  overthrow  you ;  your  fall  would  be  a 
great  victory  for  him.  But,  remember,  you  are 
not  alone.  Jesus  is  not  only  for  you,  He  is 
within  you,  and  all  about  you,  as  a  wall  of  fire ; 
you  have  nothing  to  fear ;  the  Mighty  One  lives 
to  bring  you  through  the  temptation  more  than 
conqueror.  You  do  not  fight  alone,  or  you  would 
fail.  The  Lamb  slain  before  the  throne  is  also 
the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  He  lives  to 
give  victory  again  and  again.  Be  not  afraid ! 
But  you  say,  "  Suppose  I  am  overtaken  and  fall 
into  sin,  what  am  I  to  do  then  ?  "  Go  back  to 
God  instantly  for  pardon  and  cleansing.  The 
command  is  "  Sin  not "  ;  "  but  if  any  man  sin  we 
have  an  advocate  with  the  Father"  (i  John  2). 
If  a  little  child  should  go  out,  just  after  being 
washed  and  dressed  and  made  beautifully  clean, 
and  fall  down  into  the  mud,  and  spoil  the  clean 
clothes  and  cut  his  hands  and  face,  you  know 


The  New  Life  221 

what  that  child  would  do,  do  you  not?  He 
would  get  up  crying,  all  dirty  and  bleeding,  and 
would  run  back  to  mother — his  best  friend — and 
tell  her  all  about  the  fall,  the  cut  hands  and  face, 
and  she,  like  the  mother  she  is,  would  wash  and 
cleanse,  heal  and  kiss  him;  the  mother  heart 
could  do  no  less.  God  is  better  than  a  mother. 
Try  Him.  Do  not  lie  there ;  get  up  and  go  to 
Him  for  pardon  and  healing,  and  He  will  say  to 
thee,  "  As  one  whom  his  mother  comforteth,  so 
will  I  comfort  thee"  (Isa.  56:  13). 

Be  glad  in  the  Lord.  Have  some  sunshine 
in  your  voice,  some  song  in  your  soul.  When 
there  is  a  song  in  your  soul,  it  will  be  heard  in 
your  voice;  your  religion  should  never  make 
children  and  dogs  run  away  from  you.  Do  be 
attractive.  Let  the  morning  shine  in  your  face, 
and  the  song  the  angels  sing  in  your  voice.  Do 
not  live  in  the  shade.  "  Forget  not  all  His  bene- 
fits "  (Psa.  103 :  2).  Count  your  blessings,  think 
of  all  God  has  done  for  you,  and  you  will  have 
joy — the  cream — and  good  milk  always  gives 
cream. 

Be  out  and  out  for  Christ ;  do  not  sit  on  the 
fence.  If  you  are  at  once  altogether  decided  to 
follow  Jesus  anywhere  and  everywhere,  it  will 


222  The  New  Life 

make  it  much  easier  for  you  and  everybody  else. 
Take  stand  against  everything  doubtful.  Do 
nothing  and  go  nowhere  where  Jesus  cannot  go 
with  you  or  smile  upon  you.  Let  your  Hfe  be 
the  Christ  life.  Do  as  He  wills;  in  all  things 
seek  His  glory,  not  the  wishes  of  those  around 
you,  but  God  first  in  all  things.  You  will  not 
please  all  the  people,  I  know,  if  you  are  to  be 
what  He  wills ;  but  this  is  in  the  business  (i  John 
3  :  i).  As  the  world  knew  Him  not,  so  it  will  not 
know  you,  if  you  are  like  Him.  Hot  saints  are 
sure  to  make  lukewarm  folk  mad. 

Remember  you  are  saved  to  serve.  Christ  Him- 
self came,  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  min- 
ister, and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  the  world. 
You,  too,  must  be  of  service  to  some  one  if  you 
would  enter  into  the  joy  of  the  Lord.  Try  to 
register  some  bit  of  honest  work  for  Christ  and 
man,  every  day  you  live.  There  may  be  tears 
and  heartache  in  the  work,  but  remember  Christ's 
life  was  service  for  you.  If  you  are  His,  you 
must  serve.  All  He  did  was  done  because  He 
loved.  "  I  must  work,"  said  Jesus.  If  you  have 
His  Spirit,  can  you  be  selfish  and  idle  ?  "  As 
many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are 
the  sons  of  God  "  (Rom.  8 :  14).     You  may  be 


The  New  Life  223 

saying,  "  What  can  I  do  ?  "  Do  the  little  things. 
Begin  in  the  home,  speak  lovingly,  act  gently. 
Serve  those  who  are  near  you — father,  mother, 
sister,  brother,  wife,  husband,  child.  Sink  your 
own  will  and  rights  for  their  good,  do  not  seek 
all  the  good  for  yourself.  Always  be  willing  for 
those  about  you  to  share  with  you,  and  ever  be 
willing  to  deny  yourself.  A  heart  filled  with  the 
love  which  "  never  faileth "  will  in  the  end  win 
great  victories.  We  possess  most  truly  when  we 
give  most  away;  we  save  ourselves  only  when 
we  lose  ourselves  for  Christ's  dear  sake.  Let  this 
mind  be  in  you. 

I  have  one  other  word  to  say  to  you  ;  it  is  this  : 
Co7inect  yourself  at  once  with  the  people  of  God; 
join  a  Christian  Church,  where  you  can  take  root 
and  grow.  You  will  need  all  the  help  you  can 
get  from  Christian  fellowship,  and  you  ought  to 
be  ifnparting  help  and  hope  to  others.  Be  an 
active  Church  member,  keep  awake,  and  wide 
awake.  Help  to  bear  your  share  of  all  the  bur- 
den of  the  Church  life.  Attend  its  ordinances, 
be  regular  at  the  services,  and,  above  all,  do  at- 
tend the  week-night  prayer-meeting.  Take  part 
in  all  its  services  and  life.  Do  not  be  silent  when 
you  should  be  heard.     Be  a  shining,  bright  beam 


224  '^^^  New  Life 

of  God's  sunshine,  as  beautiful  as  the  coming  of 
spring,  as  warm  and  hfe-giving  as  summer,  and 
as  full  of  fruit  and  benediction  as  the  autumn. 


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